A Dance of Fire and Ice
by Ghostina
Summary: Ember was born from flames and darkness which makes Pitch a perfect ally. When he offers her the chance to take revenge against a certain white haired spirit, she'll do anything to help the Nightmare king take out the Guardians... even if it requires her to burn everything the guardians protect to the ground. (Not a OCxJack story)
1. Darkness

**Full Summary:** Some people were born to be in darkness; they enjoy the nightmares and embrace that small portion of their soul that cries in joy in the face of fear. Ember was born from fear and flames, and as such, there is nothing more that she enjoys then causing others the very pain she can never be rid of.

When Pitch makes her an offer and a chance to bring down the creatures, she never believed in, even as a human, how can she say no? Especially when they'll start with her opposite- the winter to her summer.

**OOC:** I usually write OC stories, and that's just due to them spicing up original stories. This movie reminded me to be a kid at heart, and I couldn't get this character out of my head. Yes she's a girl, no I'm not planning romance as I see lots of JACK X OC, and that's not me. I wanted to make a villain, so I hope you enjoy Ember.

**Warnings: **This will land at a high T for violence, blood, and angst in general. Just a heads up. This isn't a happy go lucky story; this is dark and is meant to be dark- for in the darkest hour, light will shine the brightest ;)

**Chapter 1**

Jack couldn't help but sit in a tree and watch Jamie. Even in the middle of summer, with the temperature high in the 90s, Jack enjoyed watching his first believer hang with friends or play in the pool… or basically anything. All of it brought a smile to his face even if it had been 6 years since Pitch was defeated.

While the winter spirit knew he should be off causing a blizzard in some southern hemisphere, Jack couldn't help but be drawn back to Bugress every so often. It relaxed him after a hard day at work; who knew causing snow days could be so time consuming? He was half tempted to make it snow and freeze the pool all the kids were jumping around in. However, he knew if he did that, he'd end right back up on the naughty list and never hear the end of it from North.

Still, it was good to see the kids even if they were now teens. Jack was sad to know that some of them could no longer see him, but Jamie could. And to Jack, that was still the entire world. Even now, Jamie noticed the winter spirit and waved. A few of the other teens gave him weird look, but the continued to splash and joke around while all the girls sat on the deck.

He couldn't help but briefly wonder in these calm moments when Pitch would strike again… but he didn't let that thought ruin his fun as he took off with the wind to go to Chile for an unexpected blizzard.

…**..**

Pitch couldn't help but scowl. Six years? Six years, and he still hadn't made it out of this hole. He had his fearlings back under his control, but he was in no shape to no take on five guardians. His face fell into a deeper frown as he thought of the newest and easily most annoying guardian- Jack Frost. It was become of him that Pitch couldn't succeed; had the man in the moon just stayed out of all of this as he had done in the past, Pitch knew he would have won.

With that thought, he roared out and slammed his fists into a nearby wall. He could see the hole in the ceiling; he could see his way out, but unless more children feared him, he wasn't going anywhere. He hated it, and there was nothing more he wanted now but to wring that child Jamie's neck and make Jack watch and suffer.

One of his nightmares nickered lightly next to him, and he finally sighed and composed himself. He was a King after all, which meant he needed to act least act like it. He ran his bony hand down the mare's neck and briefly wondered about the journey that nightmare had taken earlier. He had used much of his energy to send his fearling out in hopes of finding someone to help him take out the guardians, but the shadow had returned empty handed. He couldn't even ask it if it found what he was looking for.

No matter, with or without help, Pitch would return and force the guardians to their knees. He broke out with a smile and a laugh just thinking about how weak and pitiful they would look with their precious children running through them.

"Have you finally gone insane?" a new voice purred. From the shadows, flames flickered out reaching and touching any area that remained dark. From the center of the fire stood a girl, neither extremely old nor young. She wore a short black skirt and a halter top that wasn't leaving much to the imagination at this point. Her dark red hair was pulled back into a tight pony tail, and slung across her shoulder looked to be an old bow made of an oak tree.

And her dark gaze rested directly on Pitch. There wasn't fear in her eyes, simply amusement. She called the flames back to her body and they nestled along her form until it was simply a dim. She leaned casually against the rock watching Pitch's gaze run over her. She knew she had his attention, but then again, he was the one who requested an audience.

"Some people will start to talk if you continue to stay cooped up in this dark cave with nothing but yourself and this horse to amuse yourself with," she continued, each word rolling off her tongue.

"Ember," Pitch said with little emphasis. He reached forward ignoring the flames still lightly dancing across her form and touched her cheek. The scar still felt rough under his touch, and he couldn't help but trail the burn all the way to her collar bone. Pitch couldn't help but muse that she was lucky to still have her eye. "It's good to see you again."

"And you," she shrugged shaking off his hand. "Though I am going to guess I am one of the few to still see you."

"The Guardians," Pitch started to hiss, but Ember raised her hand and waved him off.

"Yes, yes I've heard," she laughed. "Even where I usually stay, the story has spread that you got your ass handed to you by those pesky things." Her smile grew wider and as it did, the light emanating from her body grew. "The thought of the _tooth fairy_ kicking you done this hole is just absolutely hilarious."

"Quiet," Pitch snarled. "I did not call you here to be mocked."

"Then why call me after all this time?" she asked with a sigh. "I was enjoying making a volcano erupt when your horse came and ruined the moment." Her lip pouted out.

"There's a winter spirit on the Guardians now or have you not heard?"

"That I did not," she admitted, and Pitch could tell she was interested. As a spirit of summer and born from flames, Ember always enjoyed tormenting her other halves. It had been a long time since she had seen any winter spirit.

"And not just a winter spirit, but the winter spirit, Jack Frost," Pitch continued knowing he had enraptured her, and it was then her eyes went into a glare.

"Jack Frost is a guardian?" she hissed, the flames flickering around her went out completely surrounding the pair in a shroud of darkness.

"Help me bring the guardians to their knees," the Nightmare king offered, "and I will help you kill Jack Frost."

"I don't want to kill him."

"What do you want then?" he asked, his hands behind his back as he leaned forward. He could smell fear on her, but it wasn't the fear he usually found on others when they were around him. It was a faint whiff of the life she had lived and died.

"I want him to suffer," Ember said, her gaze meeting the Nightmare King's. "Help me do that, and I will help you."

"Deal."

**OOC:** So I like it, but not sure if I love it yet. I'm going to put this up and see if people enjoy it. I just needed a break from my Supernatural tale for a bit. Something new as I've been craving to write a villain again- a con, sly and different villain. R&R, let me know what you think.


	2. Pain

**Chapter 2**

Ember was staring at the King of Nightmare's trying not to think of the last time she saw him. It had been decades at least, and she wasn't entirely pleased to see him again. In truth, the last time Ember had seen Pitch was when she was still a foolish human. She scowled at that thought, but she kept it hidden best she could. The last thing Ember needed was for Pitch to bring up her past again.

"So do you have any ideas on how to plan to destroy the guardians?" she tsked, cocking her head to the side. "Or are you planning to shout profanities at them from this god forsaken hole?"

"Don't you ever get tired of being snarky?" Pitch hissed seizing her chin in his hand. He forced her to look him in the eye, but still no fear. She only glared and allowed the flames that licked her skin to flare up and force Pitch to take a step back. "I wish you'd stop doing that."

"Don't like the light?" Ember smiled sweetly cocking her head to the side, but when the boogeyman glared at her, she calmed the fire on her skin back to a dull dim. "I can't help that I have a tendency to make things glow."

"Or that things catch on fire around you," Pitch snarled shaking out his robes to snuff the part that had been flaming. When Pitch finally had everything back in control, he took a deep breath and smiled grimly down on Ember. "I can leave this hole if enough people start to believe in me again."

"I'm not about to cross dress," she said shaking head joking about turning herself into Pitch. "I could catch a few houses on fire?"

"That doesn't help me," he frowned. "I need to smell the fear and take it over. Then, we can take out the guardians."

"Well do the guardians have any pets?" Ember asked, and she grinned with Pitch. He had a glint in his eyes as he started to plan something.

"I have an even better idea," Pitch cooed again touching Ember's scarred face. His nails started to dig in, but Ember only pushed forward. The pain reminded her of everything she had been through, and there were days she craved the anger and pain just as Pitch craved fear. "How are your acting skills?" But before Ember could think of answering, she was thrown against the wall and black sand formed restraints across her entire body.

Her gaze never wavered from the Nightmare king, and she shut her eyes in content as her head leaned back against the cool wall. Fear never once radiated from her; Pitch, after all, wouldn't call her down here just to kill her. She didn't trust him, but she'd allow him to do with her as he thought was necessary. The first strike caused her to flinch from the unexpectedness of it, but after that, the blows just faded away as she relaxed. After all, she had been through far worse pain; her scarred body was proof of that.

However when Pitch's hands slid up her shirt to come into more contact with her burn that stretched like tatters across her abdomen, her eyes shot open. "Watch it," she hissed, "or you'll find yourself with similar marks." Ember didn't mind the pain, but she didn't like to be touched softly… softly meant care, meant love… meant things she didn't want. The punches came back.

"You look lovely covered in blood," Pitch purred into her ear, and she smiled at that. Pitch always said the nicest things to her.

…

Jack laughed as he soared through the air. The cold gusts felt like home to him, and for a moment, he considered just heading back to his pond… but he figured he should stop and at least bother Bunnymund. The kangaroo had gone too long without a visit from the winter spirit, and it had been even longer since Jack had given the Warren some snow.

Without even saying it, the wind adjusted and brought him to the Warren in the briefest of moments. Frost landed quietly and looked around the bright spring like area. It wasn't burning hot here like it was back in his home town. Little eggs ran around the moment he landed, and they were scurrying every which direction.

Knowing he didn't have a ton of time, Jack raised his staff and caused a flurry of snow to fall down. The eggs started to freak even more, running for cover as the cold wet fluff fell down. Jack could only throw his head back and laugh.

"Oh no you don't!" Bunnymund yelled half way across the Warren. "Get rid of it! Get rid of it!" Bunny was standing right in front of Jack now, his full height towering over the winter spirit. "Get. Rid. Of. It!"

"Oh come on Kangaroo," Jack smiled enjoying the usual games they played. "You haven't had snow here in a bit."

"Three days Jack," Bunny warned. "You are making it impossible to get work done."

"That's because you need a break," he sighed exasperated. "Have fun you know?" Jack leaned over on his staff.

"Go give North a snow day," Bunny said with a glare. "He's in overtime with summer in full swing."

"Tell me about it," Jack frowned.

"Don't like the heat?" Bunny grinned liking the idea of the winter spirit being uncomfortable with something, but Jack only shrugged as more snow came down. Before Bunny could even say another word, a blizzard picked up. Jack jumped into the air with the intention of flying off. "JACK!"

And with that, the spirit of fun knew when to run. He didn't want the Easter bunny eating him alive for this, but it was still worth it. While he'd prefer to hang a bit longer, Jack decided he should at least go talk to Jamie today. It had been a few months since he was able to talk to his first believer after all.

Jack had been able to wave, but with Jamie being a teen, they hadn't had the time to really talk. He was hoping he would get the chance since Jamie had seemed excited earlier, so Jack used the wind currents to drive him back to the town of Bugress. He had barely landed near his pond when he felt the shift in the air.

If Jack didn't know better, he could have sworn it was hotter. Jack looked to his pond to see it was starting to melt from all this heat, and he just grinned before touching his staff to the water's edge. It immediately froze back over, and everything seemed better. Jack just ignored the feeling that he was being watched.

Grinning, he headed towards the forest's edge hoping Jamie would be there waiting. The sun was just barely sitting on the horizon, so Jack was sure Jamie would have made some time by now to see the winter spirit. Jack had barely made it a few feet towards the forest edge when he heard a whimper. His staff was immediately up and he was circling around trying to find the source of the sound.

Behind him, he heard Jamie call his name, but his eyes narrowed. He knew he heard someone or something else. Jamie was jogging up to Jack, but he barely paid the teen mind for the moment. The whimpering occurred again, and Jack stepped towards it.

"Jack, what's wrong?" Jamie asked frowning.

"I hear something," he said looking over at the teen to see how well he had grown. "Don't you?"

The teen looked like he was straining to hear something, but he only shook his head. "I'm sorry Jack, but look, I really wanted to talk to you."

"Please help," a voice called out. "Anyone, please?" It was pathetic and weak, and Jack now knew the direction. Jamie followed him at a careful distance. He could see that Jack was ready for a fight which told Jamie to be wary.

Finally, the two walked into a clearing, and temperature seemed to sore another ten degrees. Sweat rolled down the poor winter's spirits face. He panted from the exertion of being in such heat, but if someone was calling for help, it was his duty as a guardian to try.

"Who's there?" Jack called out.

"Can you hear me?" a voice called back in turn, and finally, Jack could see where the voice originated. Laying on the ground was a girl in a black skirt and a halter. Part of her face was scarred by what looked like a burn, but the rest was covered in blood and bruises.

"Jack what do you see?" Jamie asked.

"You can't see her?" he asked taking a careful step towards the injured girl. She grimaced in pain, and the temperature went up again.

"No, see who? Is it another spirit?" Jamie asked, his voice rising in excitement.

Jack knelt by the girl, and she frowned up at him. She looked to be in a lot of pain, and it appeared that she had been dragging herself away. Jack moved to touch her, but stopped when he realized the closer his hand got to her body, the more heat he felt.

"You're a spirit," he said in confirmation, and the girl nodded, hissing between her teeth.

"Summer spirit," she coughed out, and her body shuddered. "Ember… is.. my name," she panted out.

"We need to get you some help," Jack said. "If I touch you, will it hurt?"

"Probably, but I am painted black and blue," she muttered. His fingers brushed along her back where another part of her skin was raised from a burn, but it was old, healed and long scarred. Jack tried not to cringe at the heat running into his fingers, and Ember shook from the cold running into her body.

"How did this happen?" Jack set his staff down as he decided he had to get her to North. It wasn't going to be pleasant, but it had to be done.

Her eyes closed as a few tears brimmed her eyes. She was able to choke out one name, and it was the last name Jack ever wanted to hear again. "Pitch Black…"

"Pitch is back," Jack muttered to himself more than anything.

"Pitch is back!?" Jamie cried, and when Jack looked to the teen to calm him, the winter spirit didn't notice the smirk that played across Ember's features. She knew that the teen would spread the name, and with Pitch's name, it would spread the fear… it would spread like a wildfire.

**Chapter 3 Preview:** Jack takes Ember to the pole to get the much needed care she 'needs' not knowing it's all part of the plan. The Guardians get together to try and figure out Pitch's plan without realizing she's sitting among them :P

**OOC:** Still not romance, but Ember is sly. She knows how to manipulate, so be ready for the games. R&R :P.


	3. Light

**Chapter 3**

Jack did his best to calm Jamie while Ember was slowly pushing herself into a more appropriate sitting position. With each movement though, she hissed as her battered body fought for her to lay back down. She calmly watched Jack tell Jamie that even if Pitch was back, he'd protect the boy. To Ember it was a truly a heart-wrenching sight as she knew that in no time, the winter spirit would be on his knees… broken and a pet to the summer spirit.

"Is the other spirit okay?" Jamie finally asked looking in Ember's direction though he couldn't see her. He squinted and looked constipated at the very effort of trying to believe in the injured girl.

"Tell him I'm fine," Ember said holding one arm in the other. She tried not to scowl at the pain running rampant in her shoulder; Pitch had been kind enough to dislocate it. She reminded herself briefly to lit Pitch's hair on fire for that.

"Jamie, you should go home," Jack was saying. "I'll go to the other Guardians. We'll nip this in the butt."

"Just dreams right?" Jamie laughed to some internal joke.

"Exactly," Jack grinned. "I'll be back as soon as I can."

"Promise?" Jamie suddenly sounded like his ten-year old self again.

"Promise," Jack nodded affirmatively. While hesitant, the teen eventually wandered back towards his house and left Ember and Jack alone. Jack had his back turned to Ember as he watched his first believer walk out of sight. It took every ounce of Ember's self control to not set the winter spirit on fire right then and there. She found herself unconsciously increasing the temperature as flames started to come alive on her skin again.

That's when Jack turned around, and Ember feigned a small smile even as her skin seemed alive. She hissed for dramatic effect and tried to stand. Her knees buckled under her weight, and Jack rushed forward and snatched her mid fall. Both spirits froze from the strange feeling in their skin. For once in her life, Ember felt chilly, and Jack was sweating more profusely.

"Could you turn down the heat there, Firefly?" Jack finally asked trying not to let the summer spirit fall to the ground. With the extra heat radiating out, it was hard for Jack to hold onto her.

"Oh yes," Ember said with a small frown. "I apologize. I'm use to living in hot weather, so I never notice when I'm making things uncomfortable for others." Then she paused and asked, "Did you just call me Firefly?"

"Not my fault you're glowing like a bug," Jack pointed out with a smile.

"I'm not a bug," Ember growled trying to keep her persona up which was becoming increasingly hard with the guardian of fun already driving her up a wall. Trying to get the ball rolling, Ember groaned again shutting her eyes in pain. She glanced at Jack through half lids to see him staring at her with worry.

"We need to get you to North," he said reaching down while keeping a hand on the summer spirit and picked up his staff. "He'll make this better."

"With what? Cookies and milk?" Ember scoffed then scolded herself internally. She forgot how hard it was to be cheerful and endearing. "I'm sorry, it just hurts." She batted her eyes at Jack, but he just nodded. She tried not to laugh at the irony of the situation; most male spirits noticed her easily due to her attire, and here was a spirit very close to her age, and he was oblivious.

"Can you, um, fly?" Jack asked unsure of the powers of the other spirit. He had never run into the past 300 years nor any spirit like her.

"It won't be comfortable," she sighed, "but yes I can. I'll ride the warm air while you get stuck with the cold." Her feet lifted slowly off the ground before Jack grabbing her hand followed.

"Hey I like the cold," Jack smiled trying to make the other spirit feel better. As they rose on the current of the wind, Ember almost fell from the sky until Jack tightened his grip on her hand and basically dragged her with him on his air currents. The cold caused Ember to shiver.

"Guess I'm hurt worse than I want to believe," she joked staring up at the winter spirit. Internally, she cursed Pitch for inflicting more injuries than necessary. They had agreed enough to make her look beat, but not enough to hinder her… yet here she was relying on the very thing she wanted to throw into a volcano. Still, she might as well play up the injured angle- make her seem weaker in general.

"Don't worry I've got you," he said. It went unsaid that this wasn't comfortable for either of the spirits- her heat and his cold were canceling each other out, but they could feel it between them. The change in temperature, and it went unsaid that they both disliked it.

"Thank you Jack Frost," she said looking up at him through her lashes. Again, it took all her self control to not allow her flames to launch from her skin onto his body. She knew the agony it would cause, but she really wasn't in the mood to stop herself from going splat if he let go.

He smiled brightly, but they didn't speak another word until the Pole came into sight. Knowing her next move, Ember groaned then allowed her head to lull back. She heard Jack saying her name, but she ignored it and played possum. She knew idiots always had a tendency to speak more freely when they thought the enemy was unconscious.

"North!" Jack cried the moment he landed. He let Ember down more gently, and she stay very still.

"AH Jack!" North bellowed. "Good to see you again!" Ember could feel the giant tromping over to them, and she tried to remain still even though a good eye roll seemed appropriate. "What is this Jack?"

"Ember, a summer spirit," she heard him explain. "She was attacked by Pitch." She felt a breath on her cheek, and she groaned in pain gripping her dislocated shoulder.

"This is not good," North said. Ember felt herself being picked up by something resembling a rug. "We need to call the other guardians."

Ember was stuck watching the two Guardians head toward the globe with lights while she was taken to some infirmary. She let it happen; after all, she had all the time in the world. A plan like Pitch and hers had to be enacted upon slowly.

Jack followed North in awe only glancing back once at the summer spirit, and he was glad she was going to get medical attention of some sort… be it from a rug or not. He couldn't help but smile even if the situation wasn't perfect for it; at least, he was cold again. The warmth was leaving him, and he was starting to feel normal again.

"What happened?" North asked once they were at the globe, and he had activated the lights.

"I came across her injured… like that," the winter spirit explained now with a frown. "I couldn't leave her like that and figured she'd be safe here."

"Did she say Pitch?" the Russian claus asked, and Jack nodded.

"He's up to something…" Jack started when North interrupted.

"I know!" he bellowed. "I feel it… in my…"

"Belly, I know," Jack finished smirking as he did.

Next to him, a hole opened up, and Bunny came jumping out. "Mate why'd you call me here?" he asked before he noticed the white haired spirit. "Oi, there is still snow in the Warrn'!" His ears laid flat against his head as he glared at the mischievous trouble maker.

"It looks good there," Jack shrugged, his staff laying half hazard across his shoulders. "Adds some fluff," he continued poking the easter rabbit in his arm to emphasize his 'fluff' statement. Bunny only glared.

"Bunny, Jack," North said, his tone warning, and the two guardians backed off. That was when Sandy made his entrance with Tooth not far behind.

"Hi Jack!" Toothiana said excited to see those pearly whites again. She fluttered around the winter spirit trying to see an opening where she could get her fingers into his mouth.

Sandy simply nodded his head in greeting before a large ? appeared above his head. They obviously wanted to know what was going on. North looked to Jack on this one as he had more experience with the fire spirit in the other room.

"Pitch is back," he said with a sigh.

"Are you sure?" Bunny asked suddenly less concerned with what Jack did earlier and more with what was going on now. "Did ya see him?"

"No," Jack admitted. "But the evidence is lying in the other room looking like she was torn to shreds."

Sandy cocked his head to the side before hundreds of images flashed across his head. Jack simply nodded, "Yeah something like that…" In truth, he had no idea what the little guy had just said.

"She?" Toothiana asked. "We have a girl here?"

"Spirit of summer," Jack clarified. "Very summery…" He shook his hand at the memory of the heat running into his arm. "I had to carry her here."

"Oooo I like meeting new people," Tooth said excitedly. "Are her teeth as nice as yours? Are they pearly white? Ooo I wonder if I have her past life teeth somewhere…"

"If it was Pitch," Bunny said, disbelief in his voice, "why attack her?"

**. . . . . .**

Ember slammed her head back against the pillow in boredom. Most of her injuries had been cleaned and wrapped plus her arm was now back in its proper socket. Still, she was bored. Ember was anything but use to sitting still for long. However, even she had to admit this plan was ingenious. It would have taken Pitch weeks to break back into the Pole, and here she was walked right through the front door by a Guardian himself.

She could barely hide her smirk as she reached over and grabbed her bow. Running her finger along the curve, she scratched the black sand from her bow. Slowly it sprinkled onto her covers, and eventually, it formed a small Nightmare.

"You know what to do love," she whispered pressing her face against the dark creature. It gave her an assured whiny before running through a wall and disappearing. "I hope you're ready Guardians," she smiled before leaning back.

**Chapter 4 Preview: **The Guardians discuss possibilities on how to deal with Pitch… and Bunny doesn't trust Ember and her tales she spins to the other Guardians.

**OOC: **R&R. There will be more of the Guardians next chapter. Ember is going to take a back seat for some of it.


	4. Nightmares

**Chapter 4**

Jack and the Guardians stood around the globe, but no one had anything to say. Not even Jack who would usually have no problem cracking a joke spoke. He knew what Pitch being back meant; they all did. It was hard to erase their feelings of what happened six years ago; Bunny would never admit it, but those few hours being unseen had affected him. It was why he always went easier on Jack when Frostbite had a tendency to flood the Warren with snow. A few hours unseen was miserable; how could anyone compare to 300 years?

"What's the plan then mate?" Bunnymund finally asked twirling his boomerang around his paw with ease.

North just broke out in a laugh, and it was almost contagious except no one knew what he was cracking up about until he spoke. "Well we stop him of course," North bellowed with a grin reaching for his swords.

Tooth fluttered around before nodding in agreement. "We beat him once, we can again."

Sandman flashed multiple images, and while North seemingly understood, Jack only nodded and gave the little guy thumbs up. Sandy exasperated his actions and rolled his eyes. Apparently whatever he was saying was very important, and finally, he just gave in and started to point behind the four Guardians.

Leaning against the frame grinning was Ember. She had her head tilted against the door jam, and she was obviously enjoying watching the Guardians interact. When they all turned to her, Ember changed her expression to something more appropriate of a beaten girl. She gave them a smaller smile and cast her eyes to the ground.

"Sorry," she muttered. "I heard you talking and I couldn't help myself." She was the perfect image of politeness and broken. Ember knew how to play this game, make them like her, want to protect her, and then, she crash their world around them. It took some energy to keep the smile from her face at that thought.

"Sheila," Bunny said, his accent thickening at the sight of the summer spirit. Ember tried not to scoff at the idea that she could attract the rabbit's attention but not Jack's. "Should you really be up and around?"

Ember laughed lightly before wincing, "No probably not. But I'm not one to sit out either."

Tooth was suddenly right in front of Ember, and the fire girl couldn't help but as her eyes went wide. The tooth fairy was fluttering and looking over the spirit. Toothiana had never met a fire spirit before, and she was genuinely curious.

"Why is there a flying peacock trying to get into my mouth?" Ember asked taking a step back before falling on her butt rather unceremoniously. Internally, she was growling and wondering if she set one feather on fire if they would all go.

Jack cracked up as did North. Bunny narrowed his gaze, but let a smile slide onto his face. It wasn't every day when someone other than him was being teased for their looks. Tooth didn't even mind; she just grinned larger as her smaller fairies fluttered excitedly around the girl's wavy locks. Her pony tail had been knocked loose with Pitch.

"Ho ho," North cracked up as he finally started to calm down. The elves around his feet were freaking out with all the commotion. Everyone was so enraptured with the current scene that no one saw the Nightmare scamper through the workshop.

"So," Bunny started just as Ember got back to her feet, but Sandy interrupted by walking up to the girl.

More images flashed, but he slowed it down to show a silhouette of Pitch and her. The question hung heavy in the air- why did Pitch go after her? Without answering verbally, Ember held out her bow. She closed her eyes and focused on her raw power. The recurve bow seemed to glow with energy, and the bowstring caught on fire. Most of the Guardians took a step back at the show of power before Ember seemingly released control and began to pant.

"I figure he wanted this for something," she said in explanation before slinging the bow back over her should to sit across her body. "Every time, he tried to take it though, I just set it on fire."

"I'm sure Pitch loved that," Jack drawled sarcastically, and the fire spirit nodded with a grin.

"It's why he dislocated my shoulder," she said with a shrug trying not to wince with the sore muscle.

"You got lucky then," Bunny was saying, "to find Jack."

"Very much so," she continued staring at the rabbit. The air was alive with heat, and Ember didn't think it was entirely from her. Somehow, in the smallest span of time, she had upset the fuzzy creature. She tried to put on a better smile, but she knew it looked forced. "I was afraid for my life."

"We're happy you're here Ember," North said grabbing a cookie from a nearby tray.

Ember bit her lip and blinked her lashes, "May I have one?" The grin on North's face was contagious, even Sandy broke out in a smile… except Bunny. His ears were back against his head.

"So how'd you escape?" he asked.

"Oh Bunny, leave her alone," Tooth said. "She's probably shook up from it all."

"Excuse the Kangaroo," Jack commented. "He gets grouchy without his eggs."

"If you hadn't caused a blizzard mate!" Bunny roared suddenly distracted from Ember. She grinned at the spectacle and was about to head back to her room when the rabbit seized her arm.

It was automatic; after decades of barely being touched, not being seen, Ember couldn't help the defenses she had. Her body immediately came alive with fire forcing Bunny to let go, and she couldn't stop the glare that reached her eyes. Moments later though, she fell into the image of horrified.

"I'm sorry!" she cried. "It's a reaction, I'm sorry." She kept repeating it over and over while Jack took a step back. She had effectively raised the temperature in the room by five degrees; it wasn't uncomfortable for the winter spirit… but still, it was warmer and reminded him of earlier when he had touched her. "I just wanted to lie back down. I was hurting and the more I rest, the quicker I heal."

Bunny was looking at his pad, but thankfully, he had yanked back quick enough to avoid any serious damage. Still, it was throbbing a bit, but that was the less worrying issue. He had seen Ember's look when he touched her, and she thought him injured. Bunny knew an act when he saw it; the rest of the Guardians enjoyed having new company like they did when Jack showed up. Bunny had always been careful, and he had never heard of Ember until today… and the look she gave him- the contempt in her eyes and the amusement when he had to yank back to avoid serious damage.

"Go rest," North said snapping Bunny from his thoughts. "We talk later."

Ember nodded and cast another sympathetic glance at Bunny before receding from sight. Jack released the breath he was holding as the cold air overtook the room again. Without the fiery gal here, his power wasn't being canceled out. The air was back to a few degrees above freezing which Bunny glared at him for.

"You have fur for a reason," Jack pointed out with a smile.

"It's good having another female spirit around," Tooth said with a happy sigh. She finally landed, and Sandy nodded his encouragement.

"Did none of you see the look she gave me when I touched her?" Bunny asked.

Sandy flashed a 'sorry' face above his head with a shrug.

"No," Bunny sighed. "She looked mad… like she hated me."

"Lighten up Bugs," Jack said referencing a new nickname. "She said sorry."

"I don't think," Bunny started, but North waved him off.

"You're worried," he said. "We place Yeti outside her door if you're concerned."

"We should worry about Pitch," Jack pointed out. "What's the plan?"

"Oi look Frostbite is being mature," Bunny teased accepting North's proposition. "Halt the presses."

Tooth pointed to the sky showing it was getting darker. "Me and Sandy have a job to do." Sandy nodded again in agreement. "Pitch needs to be stopped, but we have the children to worry about right now too."

"Go," North commanded. "We shall rest and tomorrow we start after Pitch."

Jack didn't find this to be a perfect situation, but he nodded in agreement before parading off towards the guest room he used anytime he was staying here. As he walked, he passed Ember's door, and he felt the heat knock the air out of his lungs. The poor Yeti, Phil, looked miserable with all the heat pouring from the room.

"Night Phil," the winter spirit casually waved before retiring to his room. With a wave of his staff, snow started to fall from the ceiling, and everything that was bothering Jack melted away (figuratively of course). He sat on the window sill and closed his eyes.

_"Jack I'm scared," his sister cried standing on the ice. Jack saw himself standing there on the ice as well speaking to his kid sister; it was similar to an out of body experience._

_ "We're going to have some fun instead," he heard himself saying, and he smiled knowing that while he would die here, he would save her. However, everything shifted; the moon's light disappeared, and Jack could only watch in horror as his other self shoved his sister through the ice._

_ "NO!" Jack screamed running for the lake, but his other self just grinned at him. "Why? Why?!" he was crying as he moved to the hole to try and get her back out, but he couldn't even see her in all this darkness. "Why didn't you save her?" he said turning on himself._

_ "Because I'm no hero," his other half teased. "I'm no Guardian… I'm nothing." His other half just broke out laughing, and he continued to laugh no matter how much Jack pleaded and clawed at the ice in an attempt to get his sister back. "Believe that," his other half said before shoving Jack through a newly formed hole. _

_ Jack found himself floating in the water as he desperately tried to get back to the surface, but with a sickening jolt, he didn't even know where up was with all this darkness. He wasn't even sure how much longer he could hold his breath, and that was when he felt it. The searing pain not in his lungs from not breathing, but from heat. Fire seemed to reel across his body…_

Jack's eyes flew open, and he could barely shake the nightmare. It worried him to think that he had such a dream; Pitch shouldn't have been strong enough to reach the winter spirit here, but Jack highly doubted that the dream was pure coincidence.

It was then Jack noticed the smoke pouring from underneath his door, and he had barely a second to register it before the door caught on fire. Jack couldn't help that his eyes went wide at the sight.

**Chapter 5:** Ember isn't entirely patient with what she wants- Jack… Seeing that any plan she would have had would be ruined by Bunny untrusting nature, she does the next best thing… She sets the entire workshop on fire.

**OOC:** Oh did you think Ember was going to sit and play broken and innocent forever? No, she's dark and she has every intention of going after the guardians. Be ready for the fights as the war has just begun. **R&R**, let me know what you think or what I should change.


	5. Fire

**Chapter 5**

Ember hadn't meant to set fire to the workshop, but there was a reason she stayed near the equator or near areas that had a tendency for wildfires. When she did dream and when she was tormented in her sleep, her powers became unstable. This wasn't the first time she had set fire to something due to her memories filling every dark space in her sleep.

Calm and collected, the fire spirit sat in the bed watching the fire licking the ceiling. Her body was completely on fire, and somehow, it was still comforting given that her memories of fire were far from pleasant. She could still feel the cold sweat dripping down her face, and in the back of her mind, she heard the cries of her sister still.

At least, Ember knew this wasn't Pitch's fault. His Nightmare was not supposed to touch her, but her memory always had bad timing to rear its head. She knew the chance of playing this off was slim; Bunny barely liked her. He was seeing through her act, and this wasn't going to exactly instill trust in her.

Wondering if she could still salvage some of her cover, Ember threw off the covers, grabbed her bow, and stumbled into the hall to see elves screaming and yetis running for the doors. The entire workshop was burning; she must have really lashed out in her sleep for there to be this much fire. Scowling, she stomped through the burning wood and found herself feeling better each step close to the fire she took. The flames welcomed her home, and she raised her hand to try and calm the blaze. Usually, Ember did not put out fires but increased them… however, she didn't want to completely burn down the workshop yet. She was half tempted to let it going until there was irreparable damage, but that would be obvious.

Closing her eyes, Ember took a breath and called the fire back to her. She focused on each flicker, on each smoldering pile and called it to her body. She heard the Guardians shouting behind her; Bunny was yelling for her head while the others were simply trying to put out the fire. She even heard the winter spirit using his ice to try and calm the flames. She wanted him to come closer as the blaze was now focused on her. The flames around her body went from yellow to red to a beautiful blue as she heated up.

Ember pursed her lips with the exertion. Starting fire was so much easier than this, she couldn't help but muse. Finally though, the flames started to shrink until there was nothing but coals and burning ash. Collapsing to her knees, Ember coughed and clutched her chest.

"What happened?" Tooth asked from behind.

"I'll tell you what happened," Bunny said. "She set the bloody workshop on fire!"

"Thank you for the obvious rabbit," Ember hissed unable to keep up her nice girl persona with the pain in her chest. For once, she felt like she was on fire… again. It was unbearable, but she breathed in and out focusing past the pain. She tried not to growl when Jack was next to her cooling the area around her; the small coals went out with the cold.

Ember didn't get a chance to speak again when she found her feet frozen to the floor; she looked up to see Jack's hardened gaze. Glaring in return, she snatched her bow and swung up with it barely missing his chin as he stepped back. However, the flames that fanned off caught his neck, and he cried at the sudden pain. Focusing her heat back out, Ember melted the ice and stood. She drew an arrow consisting only of fire and aimed it at any of the guardians daring to come closer.

"I didn't mean to set the workshop on fire," she hissed wondering for the briefest moments if this was salvageable. She didn't know her powers would lash out; it had been so long since it had happened that it just was a conceivable thought when this was planned with Pitch. Although, she had an inkling that her memories resurfacing was due to her seeing the Nightmare King after all this time. "I had a bad dream, a nightmare. When that happens, I can lash out in my sleep." She kept her bow up. "I put it out didn't I? If I was trying to burn you all to the ground, I would have let it keep going."

"Showing your true colors aren't ya?" Bunny asked. He had noticed that all the niceness she had earlier seemingly was gone.

"No," she hissed. "I'm showing my exhaustion and pain."

North tried to intervene even though he looked crushed. Most of the toys had been destroyed in the fire, and they were well into August. It would be near impossible to catch back up after this, but he didn't let it show too much. Tooth didn't look like she knew who to believe, but she had seen Ember lash out rather easily at Jack. Sandy just looked at all his comrades.

"I had a nightmare as well," Jack admitted, and Ember could suddenly thank the skies. This could throw them off her trail.

"Not possible," North said. "Pitch shouldn't be strong enough to break into the Pole so soon."

"Or she brought him here!" Bunny pointed out. Ember realizing her best way to talk through this was not to point a weapon at them all slowly lowered her weapon.

"Sorry snow cone," she said to Jack not really meaning it. He was rubbing his neck where the fire had nicked him; it was bright red against his pale skin. He only nodded, but even he didn't look ready to believe the summer spirit. "I haven't done anything but attract your enemy!" Pointing fingers was always a good way to throw off anyone sniffing her trail.

"Well you did," Tooth said gesturing to the half gone building.

"Seriously accident," Ember was able to say truthfully. "I wouldn't have put it out otherwise rabbit."

"Bunny," he growled. "I'm a bunny." He turned to North. "Even if this was an _accident_, she can't stay here mate. If she lights up again…"

North nodded solemnly. "I'm sorry. Your fire…" He looked around the destruction to see all the elves cowering in a corner.

"It's got a nice draft in here now," Jack couldn't help but joke keeping his distance from Ember. The heat she still radiated was making him sweat.

Arguing started up as Bunny and North tried to figure out what to do. Jack simply cocked his head to the side and looked at the fiery spirit. She only shrugged in return, and it was probably the normalest thing the two of them would and could ever exchange.

"Guys," Tooth said trying to interrupt.

"Tooth please, we're arguing here," North said, but Tooth pointed to the ceiling. It looked ready to collapse. "Oh yes, we probably should move." He took a few steps back as did Bunny then continued with their argument.

In the shadows stood the Nightmare. It had done its job by implanting a bit of fear in each Guardian, and it now watched waiting to see what its mistress commanded. For as long as Pitch gave it to Ember, it belonged to her.

"She has to go!" Bunny was growling. Ember didn't like that; how could she complete anything if she wasn't here? After this show of power too, she knew that North would agree. This wasn't part of the plan, but she would just have to roll with what was done. Looking around, she realized how little it would take to set the entire workshop back ablaze, but she couldn't help but wonder…

"Out of curiosity, what would happen if the workshop had completely burnt down, theoretically of course?" Ember asked Jack innocently enough.

Bunny heard the question, but he had barely got the words 'don't' out when Jack said that it could cause the children to stop believing in North. Ember nodded and looked at Bunny with a smirk. She knew no one else was watching, and she knew how much fun this could be. However, her patience was running thin. While it had taken a lot of energy to put out the fire, she also knew it was incredibly easy to restart it… and she was tired of the Guardians arguing. They weren't much fun unless they were scrambling around like raccoons on fire (she had done that once just to see what would happen, it was joyful until the animals were smart enough to run into water and avoid serious damage).

"Hey Rabbit," Ember called.

"Whadya want?" Bunny had barely gotten out when a flaming area smashed into his chest and he was sent against the wall.

Jack moved to stop the summer spirit, but she had already fallen to her knees and had shot another area into the ceiling… which came crashing down on top of Tooth and North. Her laughter echoed through the charred remains. It had been a long time since she had had this much fun.

Jack slammed his staff into her side, and she couldn't help the cry that was wrenched from her lips. The feeling of ice ran into her burn, and it reminded her of the fire that had not only claimed her life but gave her this body. She fell into a roll and blocked the winter spirit's next swing with her bow.

"I didn't think you liked the kangaroo," she teased, her eyes lighting up at the sight of anguish and fear in his eyes. This wasn't entirely part of the plan, but this was way more fun. Her arrow to the ceiling had started a new fire, and Jack was too preoccupied to try and put it out.

"Why did you do that?" he cried, his eyes hardening which made it all the better for Ember. She didn't want a broken toy; she wanted something she could break.

"For you Jack," she whispered, her bow and his staff still crossed- ice and fire dancing between the two weapons. "This has all been for you." Behind her, she could hear the fire roaring again.

Jack only stared at her not understanding a word of it… and praying to Manny that Bunny would jump out of the debris with North and say 'told you so'.

"After all, you let me right through the front door," she continued pointing out how this all could have been avoided had Jack not brought her here. "Thanks for that."

**Chapter 6 Preview:** Ember and Jack get their first taste of each other, and this time she lets the workshop burn.

**OOC:** **R&R. **I hope you guys are enjoying Ember. I know she flirts with Jack, but that's because she is evil, and she is trying to push buttons and figure out what she can do to the winter spirit. Also, this is only the beginning. This won't be massively long like 50 chapters (this isn't Hidden Wings), but I'm guessing 20 or so chapters. After all, the workshop is only 1/3 known bases of the Guardians… *hint hint*


	6. Ice

**Chapter 6**

Jack found himself unconsciously tightening his grip on his staff with Ember's words. He couldn't believe he had been tricked; when he had seen her, she looked genuinely injured. Never once did the thought pass his mind that it was all a ruse to get into the Pole. Now, Jack found his entire body shaking from anger. North and Tooth were caught under debris; Sandy was trying his best to put out the now massive blaze… and Bunny… Jack tried not to think hard on it as he knew Ember was going to be a handful.

"Awww are you upset at me for skewing the fluffball?" she teased with a smile pouring her power into the bow. The fire on the oak flared to life and forced Jack to take a step back. He was out of his element surrounded by all this heat; it was making his head very hazy.

Ember was forced to jump back when the winter spirit took a swing at her. Ice sprayed off his staff, and she hissed when the chunks of ice touched her. The cold wasn't bad considering she had surrounded herself in a blaze, but when the ice melted to water… that was annoying. She wasn't given much time to adjust her stance as Jack came at her again, and she ducked his swing. Falling into a roll, she drew an arrow, came up behind the winter spirit from her roll, and put the arrow into his back. The scream was like music to her ears.

"Isn't it lovely in here?" she purred standing and walking over to the kneeling Jack. Her fingertips were glowing with fire, and she couldn't help herself as she ran them through his white hair. It took all of Ember's composure to not jump up and down in excitement from the groan of pain she heard. Unable to help herself and caught in the moment, she twisted his head back, so his throat was bared to her. Leaning down, she ran her tongue along the burn and up along his adam's apple. To her, it was licking something metal that had been sitting in thirty degree weather for a few days. She was just happy her tongue didn't get stuck.

"Is this really all you have?" she continued whispering into his ear. "I was expecting more." She clicked her tongue against her teeth to tsk him before finally letting go of his head. Jack bent farther over to pant.

Ember didn't get the chance to continue with whatever she was saying when a whip of dream sand twisted around her forearm and yanked her away from the winter spirit. Sandy stood there glaring down at her, and she just pouted her lips. He moved to yank the whip again, but she was smart. She grabbed what was wrapped around her arm and pulled forcing Sandy from his platform and to land among the debris.

Summoning another whip, Sandy lashed out at the fire spirit. She attempted to duck, but it wasn't enough. It caught her in the face across her burn, and she hissed from the mere contact. At least, it didn't knock her out. Touching her burn, she glared up at the Sandman. "You'll pay for that."

With a whistle from Ember's lips, the Nightmare came running and ran head first at the Sandman. Before she could continue with her onslaught, North broke free of the debris holding Tooth in his arms. His stare landed on Ember, and he set Tooth down near Jack before coming at the fire spirit.

Grinning, she drew an arrow with the intent of firing it right into the jolly man's face, but she had barely started to notch the arrow when her arms were seized and pinned to her side. She snarled out as her feet here forced from the ground.

"You need a time out," Bunny said into her ear.

"And you need to learn when to stay dead," she hissed, allowing her entire body to catch back on fire. It forced the Easter Bunny to let her go. Landing on her knees, Ember looked around to see the fire still going strong, but now she had four Guardians to deal with. Sandy was easily able to dispatch the Nightmare, and it hadn't bought her as much time as she thought. The thought passed to let herself just be captured, so she could continue to reign fire on them. However, she realized Pitch needed to also be brought up to speed, and who knew when she'd be able to escape.

"This really has been fun," she said more towards Jack than anyone else. The winter spirit was back on his feet, and he was staring pointedly at her. She had a feeling they would be exchanging more blows very soon. "But I fear, I must go and let you deal with," she said waving to the workshop burning. There was no way they'd be able to stay in here longer unless they wanted to be burnt alive.

Focusing on the draft coming though the holes in the walls, she called a warm breeze to pick her up. She had barely gotten through the hole when she was blasted from behind. The force threw her into a nearby snow bank. With a grimace, she forced herself to stand and shake the snow from her hair. The cold penetrated her deep into her bones. Her powers seemed to hide in the deep recess her body to get away from the chill running across her body.

Jack stood in the hole Ember had tried to escape through, his staff pointed in her direction. Both of them narrowed their gazes at the sight of one another. The winter and fire spirit sparred off again… Jumping from the hole, Jack flew at Ember catching her off guard by the suddenness. His staff nailed her across the face, and she skidded a few feet to the side before getting herself back under control.

Notching an arrow, she shot it at Jack's chest; he sent a wave of ice in her direction. The fire arrow and the ice collided mid air. The oppositeness of the power caused a mixture of the raw energy before it exploded out and forced both spirits to take a step back.

Ember's forced her body to turn up the temperature even though it was harder being in the middle of the Pole. It was obvious that Jack was using the cooler air to his advantage as hail started to pour from the sky. They had gone from fighting in her element to fighting in his, and with her injuries, this was not to her advantage in any way.

"You won't touch them again!" Jack called over, anger obvious in his voice.

"Oh you ruin all my fun," she teased poking fun at what he was a guardian of. "But you know I can't stop here. There is still the warren and the palace that could really use some remodeling."

Jack swung his staff forcing ice up from the ground and in the direction of Ember; she kept herself calm and took to the air. The warm breeze holding her up blocked out some of the cold that was causing her to shiver. It was almost painful to be out here.

"You won't win," Jack said rising into the air too. "You and Pitch won't win."

Ember simply shrugged. "Not everything is about winning."

"Then what is this about?"

"Making you suffer," she said simply cocking her head to the side. It was Pitch's plan to take out the guardians, and that really wasn't a concern to Ember. She just wanted the winter spirit to hurt, to know how she felt at night… to know that what plagued her in her sleep was his fault. That didn't mean she'd betray the Nightmare king; she had made a deal, and she would live by it. After all, she owed the boogeyman a lot more than she could ever say.

"It just happens to be that Pitch's plan works very well to hurt you," Ember pointed out. "You care so much for them, and by hurting them, I hurt you."

Ember notched another arrow and shot it at Jack who dodged it with ease. The two spirits went at each other and crashed together. The moment that any skin touched, they both felt the agony of the other's power. Ember was already in pain from all the cold outside, but any time Jack blocked her attack and they touched, it increased ten-fold. Based on his face, Ember could tell he was feeling roughly the same from the contact.

"Jack!" Tooth could be here calling from the workshop. He made a mistake by looking, and Ember took that as her advantage. Ignoring the pain she'd feel, she closed the distance and hugged the spirit. She let her body come alive with fire, and with that, she could hear Jack screaming and struggling to get away.

"JACK!" Tooth seemed to scream louder at the sight of him basically on fire.

Not knowing what else to do, Jack pushed past the agony and grabbed Ember's waist. He let his own power of ice flow into her. Both had tears streaming down their face; neither was willing to relent and just stop the pain. Bunny's boomerang forced them apart finally, and they came crashing down to Earth. Ember was the first to stand, and Jack was shakily getting up; both were panting, and the fight had taken a lot out of them.

"Make your choice Guardian," Ember called across the distance. "Go help them stop the fire, or come after me…" She knew at this moment that if he chose to fight her, neither of them would last very long, and Jack would probably win here. Outside he had a distinct advantage, just as she had an advantage inside the burning building.

Ember watched in slight amusement as Jack flew back over to the Guardians and started to summon his snow to try and quench the fire. She could tell he was exhausted and barely on his feet from the pain probably radiating through his body. She almost laughed knowing that wasn't even the hottest she could burn; if anything, that was the coolest her body went. It made her excited to try turning up the heat next time; however, for now, she knew when to retreat and regroup. Barely glancing back, Ember took to the air and headed back to Pitch with what she had done.

Jack watched Ember leave before closing his eyes and summoning more snow. Anything to save at least part of the workshop. Finally, Sandy placed his hand on the winter spirit's arm, and he looked down at the little guy. Sandy was staring up at him sadly and shaking his head.

"Good try Jack," North said with a very sad smile, and it was then, the winter spirit chose to collapse to his knees. His entire body shook from pain and the emotions welling up inside him.

Bunny stepped up next to him and placed a paw on his shoulder as they watched the fire burn itself out.

"You here to tell me I told you so," Jack whispered, his voice hoarse.

"No mate," Bunny said looking down at the winter spirit. "We'll get them." He placed his paw over the burnt patch of fur and repeated, "we'll get them."

**Chapter 7 Preview:** Ember and Pitch reorganize and decide on their next step while the Guardians look down at what remains of the workshop and try to decide their own moves.

**OOC:** Hope you guys liked the fight scene. Let me know what you think. R&R


	7. Ashes

**Disclaimer: **Yep been forgetting this. I don't own RoTG but Ember is my own creation.

**Chapter 7**

"What do you mean you 'accidently' burnt down the workshop?" Pitch asked staring down at Ember who was leaning casually against a wall. Her eyes were narrowed as the Nightmare king talked down to her. "That was not the plan."

"It was an accident… at first," Ember defended. "Then I improvised." She had her arms crossed defensively, and it was almost too obvious that she was holding her side. Jack's power had a more profound effect on her than she thought; where he had touched her, the skin was still cool. She had never been anything but hot. She couldn't help but wonder if Jack was having similar issues after being set on fire.

"Why are you smiling?" he growled pulling her back to the present. "We've lost the element of surprise."

"I'm a horrible actress anyway," she shrugged. "It wasn't going to last long, and at least this way I took the workshop with me. There is no way North can catch up."

"Yes but it will take months for children to realize their precious Santa Claus is not worth believing in," Pitch pointed out, and Ember couldn't help but sigh exasperatedly.

"You've waited six years and now you're complaining about a few more months?" she countered, and that was when Pitch pinned her to a wall and wrapped his hand around her throat. She focused on keeping her powers under control which was taking more focus when she was being threatened. "You want the Guardians powerless?"

The Nightmare King leaned and growled into her ear, "Yes as our deal entailed."

"Then let me do my work," she snapped pushing him off with a simple flick of her power. "The workshop was an accident, yes, but it gave me an idea… unless you'd prefer to continue throwing a temper tantrum."

It was then Pitch finally composed himself. He couldn't help but be a bit short with the fire spirit. Six years trapped in a hole had only added to his anger, and when things didn't go according to plan, he lashed out. Smoothing back his hair, he clasped his hands behind his back and listened to what his partner had in mind. One failed plan didn't mean all plans had failed.

"It's quite simple," she started. "I go after each home of the guardians and tear it down brick by brick if I must. With North and the rabbit, it could take months for them, but with the rest?" She shrugged. It was quite a simple but ingenious plan. "Yes the element of surprise is gone, but you and I both know it wasn't going to last… and the Nightmare did its job. It gave each of them a taste of a bad dream."

"True," Pitch said almost staring off into the dark. "I do now have enough power to leave this hole and start infecting dreams."

"Then you go do that, and I'll start as many fires as I can to keep the guardians busy," she said with a grin.

"Sandman is going to be the biggest nuisance," he said scowling as he did so.

"Well what happens if you heat up sand to immense heat," she countered, and when Pitch gave her a strange look, she continued, "it turns to glass… and glass you can shatter." She smacked him lightly on the cheek almost like a tap.

…

"I never thought Pitch would choose to work with someone," Tooth said sitting in the snow next to all the other Guardians. The only left of the workshop was the globe, but even it was charred beyond recognition.

"He tried to recruit me six years ago," Jack admitted, and he could feel the Guardians eyes on him. "He tried to manipulate me, so that I'd turn on you." Each breath he took felt like he was on fire again; every nerve in his body was screaming for him to crawl into a snow bank and never come out.

"You guardian Jack," North said. It was blatant that everyone was trying to avoid the mess in front of them that was the workshop. If they didn't talk about it, maybe it wasn't real. "You're too good to fall for Pitch's tricks."

"He's right," Bunny said trying to comfort the younger spirit.

Jack was blaming himself for everything that just happened; if he hadn't brought Ember here, the workshop would still be standing, the Guardians wouldn't be at a loss of what to do, and it wouldn't be so painful to simply exist. His staff sat in front of him untouched since he fell to his knees. It was one thing for the Nightmare king to be back, fear never completely died… but it was quite another for another spirit to be helping him. Jack could only guess what her end means were; he just knew it had something to do with him.

"Jack this isn't your fault," Tooth said, and Sandy nodded in agreement. Multiple images flashed above his head most of them dealing with something on fire and question marks.

"I say we attack Pitch head on," Bunny said switching topics suddenly; Sandy frowned and placed a frowny face above his head too.

"We're asking for trouble if we do that," North said.

"No the kangaroo is right," Jack said earning a smile from everyone. He was back to at least acting a bit like his old self. "If he sent Ember here, he probably can't leave his realm yet. We have strength on our side."

"What's the chance Ember is being manipulated like how he tried with you Jack?" Tooth asked the question bugging everyone.

"She made her stance pretty clear," Bunny said pointing to the rubble, and everyone looked at the workshop.

"If she is being tricked," North said keeping his voice tight, "then we help."

"If she isn't..?" Bunny pressured.

"I stop her," Jack said. "Our powers cancel out. I have the best chance."

"She could kill you," Tooth said, placing her hand on Jack's arm.

"She could kill any of us," he countered, "but I don't think that's what she wants with me." He didn't explain what Ember had said to him in the air about it all being about him and making him suffer. He didn't want to worry the other Guardians; he could take care of himself- he had for the last 300 years… and he didn't want any of them to get hurt because of him.

"Don't do anything stupid mate," Bunny said. "We need you."

Jack immediately lit up with a grin. "Awww that's the nicest thing you've ever said to me."

"Don't push it."

It couldn't be helped; the Guardians allowed a small laugh to trickle out. At least some things didn't change. The conversation turned from what to do with Pitch and what could be done with the workshop. Thankfully, North thought he could fix it up and at least get something out by Christmas as long as the yetis put in hard work rebuilding it all. It wouldn't be what it was, but there would at least still be Christmas.

The moon was suddenly shining down on them, and each of them turned their heads to the sky. Only North seemed to know what was going on when he exclaimed, "Old friend, we could use help." There wasn't a reply directly, but when a cloud passed over, light from the moon poured through, and on the snow in front of them, a name became spelled out _Amber Lane_.

"Is that Ember's real name?" Bunny asked. "What use is that?!" He glared up at the sky as if to say 'really?'.

Sandy flashed more images including the name followed by a silhouette of the fire spirit and an image of teeth. Immediately, Tooth got excited at the sight of teeth and went into a full conversation about how amazing the incisors could be and all the chunks of gums. Sandy blew dream sand from his ears then went slower with each image- her name, her silhouette with fire, silhouette without fire, and teeth.

"Her memories!" Jack exclaimed, and Sandy nodded rolling his eyes.

"Good idea Jack," North said missing the glare from the Sandman. "With her memories, we can try and figure out why she's doing this. Tooth?"

Tooth blinked a few times before smiling sheepishly. "I was distracted. What was that?" North had to re-explain, but when he was done, she nodded. "Yeah I should be able to find them. But I don't usually activate them myself, the children do it for me… But I'm sure I can figure something out."

"Before we go rummaging," Bunny shuddered with that word, "through teeth, why don't we go after the main problem first? Pitch."

"We split up," North said with a nod. "Jack, Bunny, and I go to Pitch's lair, Sandy and Tooth go to her palace."

"Yeah," Jack drawled, "this doesn't seem like a good idea."

"I shouldn't be long," Tooth said. "Sandy can help." He nodded in encouragement.

"Good plan," North said barely registering that if they were wrong about Pitch's strength, they would be sorely outnumbered… and Ember was always a wild card. She could be at the lair or she could be elsewhere…

"Perhaps I should go with Tooth," Jack said. "If Ember is there…"

"She's Pitch's lap dog," Bunny countered. "She's probably shacked up with him not at the Palace."

Jack had to concede even though she had said she would go after the Warren and Palace; the chance she was already there was slim. Without him, North and Bunny would surely be outnumbered against any Nightmares.

"Well I'm sure Pitch would love a blizzard in his lair anyway," Jack joked not showing how much he disliked this plan and trying to hide the pain he was still in. In truth, he wasn't sure how much he could be right now, and he could only hope Ember was experiencing similar circumstances.

**Chapter 8:** North, Bunny, and Jack go after Pitch while Tooth and Sandy go for the teeth that could reveal everything… However Ember does like to keep some things quiet, and Sandy has to be stopped in her mind- the biggest opposition besides Jack.

**OOC:** I hope you guys area liking this. If you have any constructive criticism, go ahead and let me know. I'm always up for adjusting things, but if you dislike Ember- yeah leave that at the door. Also for those curious as to why I update so quickly: A. I like writing this story B. Your reviews drive me to put more chapters up… also I'm just a quick writer when I know what I want.


	8. Dreams

**Chapter 8**

Ember had just started to nod off at Pitch's lair; her head was heavy and her body craved the rest to rejuvenate her injuries. She found her eyelids heavy, but every time she closed them, she could hear _her_… her screaming, her pleading, and the roar of the fire. It kept Ember awake; the memories plaguing her sleep kept her tense and exhausted.

The fire spirit knew she could probably have Pitch conjure up a nightmare to block out the memories, but she didn't want to talk with the Nightmare king about the past. If she admitted, she was still being chased by the past… At least she wouldn't have to explain why it continued to haunt her; after all, Pitch had been there at the end.

A Nightmare chose that moment to trot up the stairs to her alcove; it's yellow irises stared down at her. With a smile, she reached up and ran her fingers through the coarse fur along the nape. She knew it wasn't a real horse but a combination of what scared everyone. Still, it felt real… just as nightmares often did.

"When do you plan on enacting your destroy the Guardians' homes?" Pitch asked removing himself from the shadows. He was directly next to the relaxing summer spirit. She audibly sighed; there wasn't any way she was going to get any sleep now.

"Well I was planning on trying to rest, so the next time I face _Frost_, I am not bumbling around like a child," she hissed. "You injured me far greater than we agreed." The two met in a glare; while it was a partnership born out of necessity, they weren't always in agreement about _when_ to act.

"Perhaps you don't hate Jack as much as you claim to," Pitch said, cocking his head and leaning down a quarter of inch to tower over her more.

Ember felt her body heat up with her rage. "I hate him…" she said glancing up at Pitch. "I assure you there was nothing more I wanted then to make him suffer, but it should show you something that I put your plan over my own."

"Very true," he conceded thankfully before offering the spirit a hand up. She pulled herself back to her feet and smoothed out her skirt. Pitch ran his fingers along the scar on her face. "Look at what he did to you…"

"I'll get them," Ember said pulling away from the touch. She didn't have much feeling left in the burnt portions of her body, but there were sensations… and she didn't like how her body seemingly tingled at the contact. Jack's cold was the first thing she truly felt in full when he touched her. "I just want to do the job right the first time… not another workshop incident."

"If you do need to sleep," Pitch said relaxing his tone, "I can put you asleep."

"Can you give me dreams that aren't about home?" Ember asked showing vulnerability for the first time after so many years.

"I can only give you nightmares," Pitch said taking her arm and leading her towards a room that was off the main staircase. "But as you know, these nightmares won't be as bad as the ones you've already lived."

Ember nodded slowly, "Then knock me out. To beat the Guardians, I must allow my body to recuperate. Sadly sleep is required for that." She let Pitch touch her forehead, and she cringed at the fear of dreaming of the past… and he could smell that all over her.

Once Ember was unconscious in his arms, Pitch placed her on a makeshift bed of nightmare sand. She wouldn't get the best sleep, but it would be sleep nonetheless. Pitch knew of her past, and he knew of the anger that came from it. It was what made her a perfect spirit for his plan; he knew she would never see past the anger especially with the memories of the life she had lived still haunting her. It would fuel her, he was sure of it.

Now Pitch had the time to head to the surface with the fireball asleep and raise some nightmares. With Manny high in the sky, he knew he could do a lot of damage before the Guardians regrouped and did whatever they were planning to do with the new pawn on the board.

Silently, he left his lair reveling in the night air. The Nightmare king took a deep breath of the hot sticky air and closed his eyes. It felt good to be free again; fear should never be contained for that long… and he knew where to get started. He basically glided across the fields and through the forests away from his bed and towards the town of Bugress. A sixteen year old boy was in need of a good nightmare, and Pitch knew that any move against Jack would get Ember back in the mood to burn everything down again.

…

"So this is a good set up for a horror movie," Jack said moving as quietly as possible through the labyrinth that was Pitch's home. They hadn't come across a single shadow that seemed out a place. "Perhaps we should have called ahead to make sure he was home?"

"Jack," Bunny said.

"Yeah Roo?"

"Shut up."

And that effectively ended the conversation as the three of them- North, Bunny, and Jack- looked through the immense base of the Nightmare king. It looked almost abandoned with all the empty cages distorted across the room. Very few still hung in the air; it was nothing like Jack remembered and it was everything he remembered at the same time.

"There's a room over here," North called over to the other Guardians while each of them checked a different route, but they came back together near the Russian with that.

All three of them poked their heads into the room to see Ember passed out and sleeping completely relaxed. They froze in the doorway afraid to make a sound and wake her. They had already seen what she could do after all. Jack raised his staff and pointed to a corner of the room to show the others that she didn't have her bow on her. It was leaned against a wall, and they stopped moving when she shifted to lie on her side.

Ember's burn came into full sight. They had seen portions of it, but with how she was sleeping, every jagged edge of the scar became apparent. It ran up the side of her face, down her neck to go behind her hair while another portion came to rest on her collar bone. Even more was on her stomach, and there was even a burn scar wrapping around her thigh.

"How does one sleep here?" Bunny couldn't help but whisper.

"What should we do?" North leaned towards the others ignoring Bunny's question.

"I could freeze her to the bed?" Jack suggested, and he was half tempted to do it without the other Guardians' agreement. She had almost killed Tooth, North, and Bunny, yet here she was sleeping soundly in a nightmare lair. "But that might key her into us being right here."

"I say you do it anyway," Bunny admitted. North looked at him exasperated. "Not like she doesn't deserve it."

Before they could argue anymore, Ember caught on fire. They for the briefest moment that they had woken her, but after a few seconds, they realized she was mumbling and still sound asleep… and on fire. Jack couldn't help but think back at the workshop when she said it originally was an accident… apparently she was telling the truth.

The room started to heat up, so Jack started to pant. It was unconscious but his powers kicked on to try and lower his core body temperature… and that was when everything went wrong. The moment a cold breeze entered the room, the fire surrounding the sleeping spirit dissipated, and the room fell into total darkness.

"We should have frozen her to the bed," Bunny said realizing what just happened probably wasn't a good thing.

The next thing they were able to see was Ember kneeling in a corner her bow lit up and in hand. She looked absolutely livid, and unconsciously each Guardian took a step back. Ember was absolutely confused and angry. Her body was shaking from the very tension running through each muscle. Glancing from one Guardian's face to the next, she realized she wasn't dreaming, and without meaning to, she broke into laughter. It was horrible timing true, but the situation was just priceless.

"You Guardians are creepers," Ember sighed notching an arrow. "I think a good arrow to your chests should change that."

This seemed to snap the Guardians from their haze, and Jack stepped forward and touched the ground with his staff. It sent a slick ice patch right underneath Ember and kept her from keeping her balance. The room wasn't suitable for a fight, but the two spirits seemed determined.

"Good to see your morals don't keep you up at night," Jack said stepping into the room with the fire spirit. North and Bunny looked ready to join when a Nightmare materialized from nowhere and nailed the two. They collapsed away from the door frame.

"All of us need our beauty sleep occasionally," Ember shrugged standing to face the winter spirit and keeping an arrow aimed at him. She watched his eyes trail across her burns, and that fueled her with rage she hadn't felt in awhile. She knew her burns were pronounced, but the last thing she wanted was for someone, especially the one responsible, to stare at her like that.

Yet Jack chose a comment that was still in character but didn't out right point out Ember's marks. "So does that mean Pitch has been asleep for the last six years then?"

Ember let the arrow loose to nick Jack's shoulder. He hissed at the contact, but it could have been a worse shot. Her eyes narrowed; whatever moment the two had shared in lightness had ended. Ember didn't mind sharing a joke, but she still wanted to see the winter spirit tied up experiencing his own set of nightmares until he had tears running down his cheeks.

"Mind telling me what you're doing here?" she asked lining up another arrow, this one deeper red than the last. She was purposely making her arrows hotter.

"Well you crashed our base, so we decided to return the favor," Jack said raising his staff in defense. She let the arrow loose right at his chest, and he jumped to the side to avoid it. As he did so, she bolted for the door knowing that a room like that was more appropriate for hand to hand combat, and the last thing she wanted was to give him an advantage with that stupid stick of his.

Ember had just stepped into the hall when she had to duck from North's blades cutting through the air. She fell into a roll and went right off the staircase. Floating a few feet out of blade reach, she stared at the three Guardians.

"Where's the other two?" she asked looking around. The three Guardians regrouped and stood at the edge of the drop from the stairs. "I don't think I killed them," she said with a grin, "at least not yet… so did you leave them at daycare or something."

Ice shot out at her, and Ember was forced to fly a bit higher. "Now that wasn't nice," she tsked glaring down at the winter spirit. "Based on your reactions, they aren't here…" Ember briefly hoped that Pitch would get his scrawny butt back here sooner rather than later. She had no problem taking on three guardians, but the missing two were clawing at her mind.

"Where are they?" she asked a bit more demanding this time. Her gaze hardened on Jack, and she knew what button to press. "Either you tell me, or I find that child you're so fond of and I light his entire house on fire _with him in it_."

"Well look at this house call," Pitch cackled stepping from the shadows behind the Guardians.

…

Tooth fluttered along looking along each wall for that one name _Amber Lane_. Everything was thankfully kept alphabetical, but there were a lot of L's. She buzzed up and down each column with the help of all her Baby fairies. Sandy was keeping an eye out for anything suspicious… which probably counted the fire arrow streaming at his face. He barely moved in time then tried to signal to Tooth.

"I found it!" she cried in excitement.

"Those aren't yours," Ember hissed appearing from nowhere basically and floating a few feet away from the platform Sandy was on. Pitch was kind enough to send her here while he dealt with the other Guardians. "I'd like them back now," she hissed at the two Guardians.

**Chapter 9:** Ember fights with Tooth and Sandy to keep them from seeing what's inside… while Pitch gets to see how strong he has gotten over the past few days. The war has just begun, and Ember has every intention of making sure it burns long and hard.

**OOC:** I hope you guys enjoyed seeing another side of Ember. Yes, she's a villain, but she was human too don't forget. Sometimes, those small pesky emotions peak through the anger; I hope you liked the small bit of humor I threw in-between the action.


	9. Destruction

**OOC:** Just a heads up, this chapter goes back and forth between the two fights. They aren't massive fight scenes on purpose as I'm pushing with the plot more than the action currently. Just realize that the periods signify that the story is switching between the two sets (Tooth, Sandy, Ember) and (North, Jack, Bunny, Pitch). Also, the reason this story has a high T will be coming up in about 2-3 chapters.

**Chapter 9**

"Where are the others?" Tooth cried at Ember. In the fairy's hand was the entire container of Amber Lane's memories, and Ember had no intention of letting those see the daylight again. She remembered enough, and that was enough for one person… she didn't want five Guardians also getting a peek into what was rightfully hers.

"Dealing with Pitch," she hissed. "Now be a good peacock and hand those over."

Tooth only seemed to grip the box tighter to her chest; all the baby Tooth's were fluttering around between doing their job and trying not to be frightened by the fire spirit. Sandy punched his hand before summoning a whip. Ember only narrowed her gaze.

"Fine have it your way," she hissed. "Just know this means I'll burn this entire place to the ground."

…

"North," Jack said softly. He couldn't believe that the Russian had told Ember where Tooth and Sandy were; it was impossible situation- a child or the other Guardians. Jack was glad he didn't have to make it, and he could only hope that they could handle Ember.

"Aww that was adorably sweet," Pitch said with a smirk. The sarcasm was dripping from his tongue. The scythe cut through the air at the three Guardians, but they each dodged a different direction. "The child over your own. Is it going to eat you alive knowing she might kill them?" It was obvious Pitch was talking directly to North now.

North glared at the Nightmare king. "They can handle her," he said gruffly. "Now you get us." He pulled out his two swords blocking the next swing of the scythe with one.

"I don't know," he continued to tease blatantly ignoring Bunny and Jack. "Is that fear I smell?" His eyes fluttered as he took in a deep breath. "Oh yes, it is quite intoxicating."

Bunny's boomerangs came out of nowhere and smacked the king of fear in his face tossing him off balance. Having what could be called an ingenious idea in Jack's head, the winter spirit glided over just as the fear king started to fall, and Jack put an ice patch right there. Completely losing his balance, Pitch felt on the ice and started to slide along the path Jack was creating with his staff.

…

Ember let out a shrill laugh when Sandy's whip came across her face again; she let it hit her… and she relished it. The fire spirit was feeling good; the pain was pushing her to be more, to be stronger… plus it wasn't cold. Sandy just looked confused by the fact the fire spirit was taking in the pain and just going with it.

He tried again with his whip, but this time, she grabbed it and let it wrap around her arm. The hit stung, but she smiled. Letting her body heat up, Ember transferred all the heat into the whip and watched in fascination as it turned to glass; Sandy's eyes went wide.

"So it does work like that," she said meeting the Sandman's eyes, and there was a sick pleasure in the fire spirit's gaze. "Let's see what happens if I do this to you directly." She had only made it two steps after shattering the glass when Tooth rammed her from the side.

"Leave him alone," the fairy growled at Ember.

"Or what?" Ember laughed regaining her balance and aiming an arrow at Tooth. "You'll molt all over me." In response, Tooth held up the box of memories, and the fire spirit glared while simultaneously turning the fire on her body to a deeper shade of red. The angrier she got, the hotter she burned.

The two Guardians squared off against Ember again, and this time the fire spirit had every intention of finishing this fight for Pitch. Without Jack here to counter her powers, she knew that this fight wouldn't take too terribly long… as long as she got rid of Sandy. Her gaze flickered over to the Sandman, and she smiled.

…

Pitch slammed into a wall thanks to Jack's stunt; he was more livid than anything else. He stood and smoothed down his robes before turning on the Guardians, who were at the top of a staircase now. Words were not spoken, but the tension was palpable in the air. It turned from strain to confusion and worry at the sight of shadows crawling along the walls. From each side of the Guardians, Nightmares seemed to star to appear, and they were increasing a ten-fold.

"It seems Sandy's dreams are fading," Pitch called up. "I wonder why…" It went unsaid that he thought Ember had dispatched of the dream creator.

"We have to go check on them," Jack said not liking the idea of leaving the Nightmare King right now. His powers were obviously growing a lot quicker than anyone thought possible; there was no guarantee if they left if the Guardians would ever get the chance to be at such an advantage over him.

"This isn't over Pitch!" Bunny growled as the Guardians slowly backed up to make their retreat.

"No Bunny, it's far from over," the King whispered more to himself than to anyone else. He couldn't hide the smile from his face as an army of Nightmares surrounded him. Without Sandy, there was no one to protect against the fears that would eat at children in their sleep. He tried not to laugh at the power his plan actually had; he knew the risk when he put Ember under and giving her glimpses of her memories and twisting them into new Nightmares… Yet it apparently got her angry enough to fight even harder, and there didn't seem to be any backlash. She probably didn't even remember dreaming it. Right then, Pitch threw his head back and let out a laugh of triumph.

Jack and the other Guardians had jumped in the sleigh; Bunny less quick to do so but he eventually relented. They went as quick as they could to the Palace using a portal to do so, but what they saw when they went through was far worse than they had expected in such a short time. The Palace wasn't burnt to the ground, which was one good thing, but billows of smoke could be seen. The closer the Guardians the more worried they became; they didn't see a single baby Tooth, and it was eerily quiet.

Jack finally decided the sleigh was going too slow for him, and he jumped into the air. He bolted ahead of the group to land on a platform. He scanned the area, but besides the lack of busyness, there wasn't a single thing wrong. Finally after walking across almost the entirety of the Palace, Jack found Tooth on her knees sobbing quietly. He immediately ran to her, dropping his staff as he did so.

"Are you okay?" he asked getting right down next to her, but she didn't seem to notice him. And it was then, Jack realized why. All around him Baby Tooth's were crying as well, and in the middle of this weeping session were hundreds of the teeth boxes burnt to a crisp…

Finally Tooth spoke, "She did it to get me to release her box. She wouldn't stop burning them until I did…" Her bleary eyes looked up at Jack's bright blue ones. He could see the pain there, and he wrapped an arm around her in an attempt to comfort her.

"Oh Tooth," North could be heard saying from behind the pair of Guardians.

"Where is hers?" Jack asked, and that was when Tooth opened her palm to show two teeth, one charred, but the other looked to be in rather intact shape.

"I was able to save these two before she obliterated her box," the Guardian of memories admitted. "Jack… I'm sorry… I think your memories…" she trailed off and looked at the mound of blackened boxes, and Jack didn't need her to finish it to realize what had happened.

He lowered his head in defeat before forming a fist and clenching tightly. There was no way he was going to let Ember get away with this. He didn't care how many snowballs he had to pelt her with or if he had to dunk her in a lake to get her to stop, he was going to fix this mess he had seemingly started.

"Tooth," Bunny said softly hopping up behind them. "Where's Sandy..?"

She didn't say a word but instead pointed. Everyone looked up to the platform above them all to see a perfect glass statue of Sandman. The Guardians tried not to get overly emotional at the sight; Jack just couldn't believe the bad luck. They lost Sandy once almost to Pitch, and it looked like they might have lost him again to Ember.

"He saved the rest a column of teeth by getting in the way of her blast," Tooth mumbled picking a feather off her coat and frowning at the sight of her dwindling powers. "Oh what am I going to do…"

Jack pulled her into a hug. "Everything will be all right." Tooth stared at the winter spirit with a frown. "We just gotta stay hopeful… I mean it's required of us anyway with the Kangaroo around." At that, Tooth let out a bit of a choked laugh.

"We'll fix this," Jack continued. "As long as you can fly, we can at least keep some belief in the kids." To which, Tooth nodded, but again, all their eyes went up to Sandy who was now truly immortalized as a statue.

**Chapter 10:** The Guardians try to raise their spirits and place Sandy in the Warren hoping for a way to reverse what happened to them. Unbeknownst to Jack, Ember decides to continue with the destruction of the Guardians… and she knows his weak spot quite well now- Jamie.

**OOC:** This will probably be the only update for today (busy day), but this weekend- who knows. R&R.


	10. Traps

**Chapter 10**

"Is it permanent?" Bunny asked poking at the glass that was now Sandy. They had been careful about transporting the frozen Guardian to the Warren, but now they didn't know what to do. Tooth was sitting on a rock recess barely looking at the rest of the Guardians; those teeth had meant everything to her, and now so many had been destroyed… because of one girl, one angry spirit.

Jack, himself, was separated from the rest of the team to just stare out over the Warren. He was in a tree with his staff lying across his lap. His thoughts were all over the place- his last connection to his former life was now gone. True, he had seen what his teeth box contained, but now, he couldn't help but fear what would happen in another century. Would he forget his sister's laugh? Her smile? He cringed at the last thought- her face?

It was almost unbelievable that one spirit had caused all this trouble, but Jack knew that they had become lax in the absence of Pitch… and Ember was powerful. Bunny had already mentioned she had the benefit of not needing child believer as it looked to be that her power wasn't drawn from that. Her powers seemed to come from the rage… which was primarily pointed at Jack, but no Guardian mentioned that.

"We cannot simply give up," North called out dragging all the Guardians attention back to him. "We must come together. We are Guardians."

He was met with silence; all the Guardians had just been dragged through the mud, and right now, not even a pep talk could get their spirits up. All Jack wanted to do was to protect his friends and Jamie whom Ember was doing a good job of making sure it was near impossible to do. His grip tightened on his staff with the thought of the ease she had threatened to kill a human child; not even Pitch had gone that far.

"He's right," Bunny said, and finally, Jack adjusted so he could look at the rest of the team. Even Tooth was paying attention. "We can do this. We have the advantage here." Now everyone was looking at Bunny like he was insane. "Kids believe in us. The ankle biters believe we can protect them."

Jack had to smile just because the Bunny was right… somehow. "If we can get Ember into a cold environement, we'll have a chance," he added in, and this time eyes were on him. "That night at the Pole, she was struggling in the cold just as I struggle in the heat. It might not be much of one…"

"But it's an advantage," Bunny finished for him.

"So how do we lure a fire spirit into the cold?" Tooth chipped in.

Her question was met with silence until Jack finally spoke up, "Bait."

…

Ember sat on her back heels staring down at the town of Bugress from a tree. Her head was cocked to the side as she examined the teenagers walking from the bus stop to their houses. It seemed like such a simple act, yet none of them even realized they were being watched. The fire spirit only really cared about one in particular- the boy with the shaggy hair, the one who had been with Jack when they originally found her.

He was having a good laugh with a few of his friends, and Ember could only assume he was enjoying his day. She had the urge to ruin that, so she trailed behind the teens letting them feel the warm draft she was bringing in. This only seemed to excite them as they delved into the topic of a pool party, and she scowled at the mention of water.

She moved slowly with the group as she couldn't do a whole lot with all the teenagers around. She needed to wait and get Jamie alone, and then, she could use the poor kid as bait. It was creative really as originally Pitch had agreed to make the Guardians scramble and suffer until only Jack was left… but Ember pointed out many of the 'won' battles thus far were accidents, due to the Guardians being split up, and the surprise element. Sandy was out of the game sure, but just another accident. He had jumped in front of her blast when she got angry at the fact her memories were about to be used against her…

Ember knew with Sandy being out of commission as somehow she knew it wasn't permanent even if Pitch would like to believe that. His powers were growing with the absence of the Sandman to counter the nightmares. Still, Ember knew the last time fear lost because of cockiness; she wasn't prone to make his mistakes.

And that was why she was out here getting bait. When the Guardians were desperate, they had a tendency to make very stupid mistakes as seen by Sandy jumping blatantly in front of an attack that could have well killed him… however, Ember did counter that in her mind by telling herself that by doing so, he had probably saved Tooth's powers. Which meant if one Guardian is willing throw their life away, so was the others. Divide and conquer, and once that was done, finish destroying each base. Erase them from the children's' minds… which were Pitch's want… Ember really couldn't care about that; she just wanted the one white haired spirit to suffer as she had.

Finally, Jamie split off from his friends waving them off as he ran into the house and up to his room. Ember took her chance and flew to his window and pushed it open just as he stepped in. His eyes widened at the window moving, but he didn't say anything nor move. His backpack hung loosely on his shoulders as he stared expectantly. Ember forgot for a moment Jack probably did this all the time, so Jamie was probably expecting to see him.

Trying to avoid setting the house on fire, Ember focused her powers into her hand until she was able to make a fireball that hovered above her palm. She smiled at her handiwork then looked at Jamie to see him gaping and his backpack slamming into the ground. Knowing she had the teen's attention, she placed both hands in front of her and turned the fire ball into letters. It took a bit of focus to control such a chaotic element, but soon it spelled out _Ember_.

"Ember?" Jamie said looking around in excitement. "The other spirit Jack was with yesterday?"

She focused again to spell out _Yes_. It was difficult to be patient, but Ember knew that it was only a matter of time before Jamie could see and speak with her without the firework show. She cocked her head when the teen started babbling about how awesome it was to meet another spirit, and he barely got 'what spirit are you' coherently with the speed he was going on at.

_Summer_. Jamie smacked his forehead. "Duh of course you are. You're controlling fire in my room." It was then he decided to stare at where the fire was floating, and Ember came into view. "Woah," he said once he could see the fire spirit. "You're not what I was expecting."

"Can you hear and see me now?" Ember asked, and Jamie shook his head quickly. "Good, that was getting exhausting." She shook her hands and the fire disappeared.

"That was cool!" Jamie said pointing to the now empty space.

Ember wandered around the room now content she could have a civilized conversation with the human. Her eyes came across some of the art on the wall; it was beautifully drawn. There was one of Jack, and she was tempted to catch it on fire… but she thought better of it.

"You're very good," she said looking over at the human; she was bent over looking at all the pictures on his wall which gave him a very good view of her ass. He was obviously enjoying it. "Your pictures," she reiterated standing and glaring. No wonder she had ignore humanity for the past thirty years.

"Um thanks," Jamie said as a large blush overtook his cheeks. "It's more of a hobby…"

"It shouldn't just be a hobby," Ember said walking over to the human and placing a hand on his shoulder. "That looks like passion for what you want to do. Don't let it disappear like most hobbies do."

Jamie blushed deeper, and Ember kept smiling. This was too easy to get the human to trust her; she had barely done anything. Yet he was basically drooling over her; this wasn't going to take long then. Afterward, she'd return to Pitch who was supposed to be searching out the Guardians, and she'd go after them.

"So why are you here?" Jamie finally asked fidgeting. Ember cocked an eyebrow at the sight of a teenage boy unable to stand still.

"Jack sent me to get you to a safe place," she said getting to the point. "Pitch is back, and he is going to be heading right at you."

"Why me?" His voice seemingly went up an octave.

"Well you are Jack's first believer," she explained glancing around the room. "It would be a hard blow against the Guardians to hurt you."

"How do I know I can trust you?" he asked.

"Love," she said stepping closer to him and touching his cheek. She watched his eyes travel across her burn, and it took all her self control to not let her fingers come alive with flames. "If I wanted to hurt you, don't you think I could have easily already? I mean…" She held her hand far from them and let the fire engulf it. "Just grab some homework or whatever you need to keep yourself busy for a few hours. The Guardians and Jack just want you safe." She looked right into his eyes and gave him a pleasant smile while trying not to throw up from the obnoxious amount of nice she was pouring out.

"So where am I going?" he asked as he picked his backpack up.

"Someplace safe," she said. "I promise… how's Hawaii sound this time of year?" she was smiling and soon Jamie was too.

Once Ember was sure the teen wasn't going to walk into a volcano, she headed back to Pitch. He was sitting in one of the many 'thrones' scattered around his lair, and she gave him a tilt of her head in respect.

"All set on my end," she grinned. "Did you get me a location where I can go rein some fire down on them?" It was an exciting concept to her to go right back into the field; it had been so many years since she had a good fight. The idea was making her giddy.

"I did," Pitch said looking over his fire spirit before chuckling. "You won't like it."

"How bad can it be?"

"Antarctica," Pitch said with a shrug.

"Oh yeah… that is bad."

**Chapter 11:** Jack and Ember get another chance to swing at each other not knowing they have set a trap for each other. So whose trap will close first?

**OOC: **I realized in a previous chapter I said the North pole was in Antarctica- my fault. I'm going to go back and fix that. Jack's spot in the movie where he gets away is Antarctica. R&R


	11. Cold

**Chapter 11**

If there was one thing Ember could despise more than Jack, it was fucking Antarctica. Just flying towards the continent was driving a frozen spike into her bones. She wasn't entirely sure what the Guardians were doing in such desolate place, but she had an inkling it had to do with her. It was an honor really to put them on the run, Ember mused.

She stayed low on the warm currents and kept an eye out for any movement. Her teeth clattered as she felt the temperature drop another few degrees. At the rate this was going, it would take most of her energy to create the warm breeze needed for her to fly. Just as this thought crossed her mind, a giant snowball crashed down on her from above. She barely got out a surprised yip before landing in a snow bank.

"Oh sweet Jesus," she hissed immediately climbing from it and moving to retrieve her bow that had been thrown on impact.

"Frozen there Firefly?" she heard Jack ask from above; she looked up at him to see him glaring down at her.

"I'm sure I can warm myself up," she said with a shrug glancing over at her bow. It would be a bit of a lunge, but she figured it was worth the jump. "You too, if you want to bring yourself down here." With that, she smiled and moved to grab her bow only to have to fall onto her back from North swinging his blades right at her head.

"You're not leaving here Ember!" Bunny growled helping to surround the fire spirit.

She couldn't help but start to laugh. "How's it going there rabbit? Can you still feel your feet?" She expected an ambush, but she hadn't expected them all to be here even Tooth. "Hello again peacock, how are your feathers doing?"

Ember had to jump to her feet to avoid getting an icicle to the face. None of the Guardians looked happy with her, not like she could blame them. Still, she had a job to do, and while fighting in the cold was by far her least favorite thing, she wasn't just about to fall to her knees and surrender. Raising her fists, she smiled at North.

"Well unless you're going to wait for me to freeze death, come on then," she said. All her years alive had taught her one thing well- how to survive. She wasn't about to forget that even when she couldn't exactly feel her toes anymore.

North came at her with his blades, and she fell into a roll ignoring the snow that was sticking to her skin. She just needed to get her hands on her bow, but she fell just shy of grabbing it. The next thing she knew, Bunny had kicked her farther from her weapon. She glared at the rabbit, but he only grinned in return.

"You're enjoying this too much," Ember growled.

"Oh just a bit Sheila," Bunny replied, his smile growing.

Ember watched as Tooth fluttered down to grab her bow, and there was no way the fire spirit was going to let that happen. Deciding there wasn't much else of a choice, she brought her elbow straight up into Bunny's chin hearing a resounding crack from his jaw slamming together. From there, she broke into a sprint even though Jack had coated the snow with more ice.

Thankfully, she slipped and it gave her the advantage. She slid right into her bow which she snatched up then turned and put an arrow into Toothiana. Coming to a rest, Ember got to her feet trying to pull the bow back again, but her fingers were numb and she was shaking so bad.

"Cold?" Jack said. It would have been humorous had his voice not been so bitter. He was taking Sandy's predicament hard. The winter spirit landed a few feet away from Ember while the rest of the Guardians assembled behind him. It looked like they had Ember. With Jack's added power, the temperature was far below freezing, colder than Ember had ever thought possible.

"Stop, stop!" she cried falling to her knees and hugging her arms trying to put feeling back into them. Her bow fell to the side useless. "I can barely feel my face."

"That's Jack Frost nipping at your nose," he joked, and even Bunny snorted in amusement. He walked towards the shivering Ember; her eyes were plastered close as she tried to use her powers to warm at least something. The snow didn't even melt.

"Hilarious," Ember said dryly.

Jack stood in front of the freezing fire spirit; it almost seemed too easy. He almost felt bad as he could see her bright usually flushed skin was going pale from all the blood rushing back to try and heat her core. He almost allowed the temperature to go back up, but he wasn't about to let her get the drop on him again.

"How should we restrain her?" Tooth asked fluttering closer.

"I could freeze her hands and feet?" Jack suggested bending down to pick up her bow, and that was when Ember moved. She snatched her bow back up and slid Jack's head between the wood and the string. She ended up kneeling on his back.

"You should have done that first," she said with a grin knowing she had to move quickly or get stabbed in the back. Ember loved how easily the Guardians could be duped into believing the 'I'm injured and weak angle. The entire time when she had been kneeling, she had been warming her hands back up by placing them between her body and arms. She just needed a bit more blood flow back, and she would be able to do, well, this.

Catching the bow on fire, Ember basically threw herself over Jack's shoulder. The momentum caused the winter spirit to flip then get thrown across the snow. He held his burnt neck, and the fire spirit smiled before adjusting her stance and falling to a knee. She got off three fast consecutive shots using her yellow fire arrows. She'd prefer to make them hotter but she was working against the environment.

It forced the other Guardians to step back or risk a second degree burn. North glared at the fire spirit while Bunny chucked his boomerang. Ember grinned and used her bow as a shield. She easily deflected the incoming boomerang before letting the warm breeze she conjured to pick her up.

"Gotta do better rabbit," she laughed.

"How's this?" Tooth whispered into her ear before seizing her and pulling her away from the warm breeze and back into the cold air. Before Ember had a chance to set her own body ablaze, Tooth let go. The fire spirit had to work fast to summon the warm air to catch her, but she didn't get the chance when Jack met her mid air and slammed his staff into her abdomen. A frozen sensation exploded across her entire body; it was far worse than being outside at even a hundred below freezing.

Ember hit another snow bank and this time she stayed laying in it screaming at her limbs in her head. Before her fingers had only been slightly numb and tingling, now her entire body was stinging from the blow. She hissed in frustration at how easy they seemed to be overcoming her; she hated teamwork.

Forcing her hand to wrap around her bow, she brought it up while struggling to sit and pulled back on the string. The bow thankfully caught on fire which warmed her fingers, her arms, and her face. The Guardians were coming at her again, and she fired off another arrow aiming this time for the Bunny specifically. She just had to hit one to throw their concentration off of her.

Ember's aim was almost true, and she nicked the rabbit in the shoulder. He cried out as he received another burn. Focusing, Ember called back the warm breeze and took to the air while the Guardians checked on Bunny. She shot herself at Jack and clipped him as she flew by with her bow.

"Tag," she hissed as she passed.

"I'm it huh?" Jack responded more to himself as Ember had already put distance between the two of them. He moved to chase, but North was calling after him,

"Jack don't!"

Over the increasing winds, the winter spirit didn't hear him and followed her through the blizzard. Born for this, Jack was easily gaining on the tiring fire spirit. After a few minutes through the snowstorm, he was basically next to her, and they exchanged a glance before fire was being thrown in his face.

Jack let himself drop from the air a bit to avoid the hit before turning more ice on Ember. She barreled out of the way, the ice barely touching her shoulder, but he could hear her cursing him for it. He tried not to smile at that, and he didn't get much of a chance when she tackled him mid air.

Ember latched onto his hoodie as they tumbled through the air. Jack could only watch in a strange mix of fascination and horror as the combination of his cold air and her warm air caused a funnel cloud to form and a tornado to drop beneath them. Jack was pretty sure no one had ever seen a tornado in Antarctica; he felt oddly proud that he caused the first one… especially since there was no one to get hurt by it.

When the two spirits stopped spinning, Ember had her hands clutched into his sweatshirt, and he had his staff pressed against her abdomen. It was a stand still. Both of them were trying to avoid direct contact as neither wanted to experience the other end of the spectrum of temperature.

"You're coming with us Ember," Jack said as the two of them floated between the cold and warm air mixing.

"I didn't think you cared," she snarled tightening her grip. "And no I'm not. You're going to come with me like a good little winter spirit."

Jack laughed, "Now why would I come with you? Better yet, don't you know I'm not very good at being good?" He couldn't help but think about when he just recently flooded the Warren with snow; it already felt like weeks ago when it had only been days.

"Even if your precious Jamie's life is on the line?"Ember grinned knowing she now had Jack Frost where she wanted.

Except what she said seemingly only upset the winter spirit; he moved one of his hands from his staff to her forearm. They both immediately felt it- the ice like feeling in the veins for Ember, and Jack felt his blood boil. They both cried out and fell from the sky. The fire spirit skidded before coming to rest on her back, and she just closed her eyes and growled.

Ember was getting tired of falling out of the sky. She couldn't help but wonder where Jack had landed after his stupidity. She had expected a lot of things, but him purposely creating contact was not one of them. At least with the two of them back on ground level, the twister they had created simply dissipated without the warm front to help push it.

She moved to get up when suddenly Jack was basically straddling her. Ember just stared up at the winter spirit wide-eyed. This day was just becoming more and more unpredictable. She listened as he growled at her, asking questions about his precious human.

"He's safe," she said licking her lips. "But for how long depends on you." Wanting a bit of revenge for shocking her in the air, Ember slid her hand up underneath his hoodie; surprisingly, Jack didn't move to stop her. He just hung his head in defeat.

"Whatever you want," he whispered. "Just, just don't hurt him."

She placed her palm flat against his stomach and pushed fire against his skin; he threw his head back and bit his lip trying not to cry out. Instead, he collapsed off of her, and she reversed the situation. The Guardian of Fun didn't fight; he wasn't going to risk Jamie's life. He had gotten Jamie into this; he wasn't going to be the reason Ember decided to hurt him.

"Me and you are going to leave this god forsaken place," Ember started when Jack laughed.

"You hate on this place because you hate the snow, bug," he muttered, but it was more of forced sarcasm. He wanted to be himself, but then again, he just felt defeated.

"I hate the snow and I hate you," she whispered in his ear.

"Think there's a correlation?" he asked once Ember moved away to grab her bow. He got up on elbows and watched her intently.

"Let's find out," she smiled sickly at him before motioning for him to follow her. He nodded and stood.

"Just promise you'll let him go," he said.

"I'll do one better," Ember retaliated. "Make no fuss, don't fight, and don't touch me ever again," this she growled, "and I'll make sure Pitch doesn't even go near him."

With that, Ember took to the sky and looked down at Jack expectantly. As he rose to meet her, she continued, "If you go against me at any point, I'll make sure _he_ suffers for it, and I'll make sure he knows it's because of you that he will be hurting."

**Chapter 12:** Pitch and Ember have Jack… He wonders what his fate will be, but he's happy that at least Jamie will be safe. He could never hurt him or any other teen purposely… and yet he finds out how wrong he could be when Ember finally reveals what's driving her.

**OOC:** So yeah the next chapter is the high T as will be the subsequent chapter. I'm sure you guys are dying to know what Ember's deal is… well you'll just have to wait until tomorrow. Read and Review. Let me know what you think as we are more than halfway through this adventure.


	12. Burn

**Chapter 12**

Jack sat against the wall of his cell, his hands shackled above his head with Pitch's black sand. His knees were folded under him, and his eyes were closed with the realization of the desperation of the situation. The winter spirit was burning up from Ember's gift in the corner- a constant fire. But it wasn't like he could complain or joke about it since the Nightmare King had been kind enough to gag him with more of that sand.

The Guardian knew he'd be tasting grit for weeks when he got out of here… actually, it was more of an if at this point. He didn't even know what they wanted besides to divide and conquer the rest of his team, his family. For the first hour of captivity, he had shouted and cursed the two of them, and that was some of the sand shifted from the wall to cover his mouth. That hadn't stopped him to continue to yell even with the muffle; however, after another hour, Jack became quiet and just sat.

The winter spirit hadn't seen either Ember or Pitch since he had been thrown in here. The fire was his only source of light which he was grateful that he could see, but the temperature was far above what he would consider comfortable. He had beads of sweat dripping down his brow, and each breath he took was shaky at best.

Jack wasn't afraid; he had faced Pitch before, and the thought of the Nightmare king plotting his demise out there didn't terrify Jack as it should. The unknown factor of Ember was what was keeping him on his toes, figuratively of course. Ever since they had met, it was a snowball of emotions. It still didn't seem even plausible that she had let Pitch purposely beat on her, so that she could get into the Pole. That didn't seem like a plan… Yet, that's exactly what had happened. Now Jack was suffering for it as were the rest of the Guardians. He didn't want to lose hope, but there wasn't a whole lot left to hope for.

Pitch and Ember stood outside Jack's door; she was leaning casually against the door, and the Nightmare king was appraising the fiery spirit. He gave her a smile showing off a row of his razor teeth, and she just gave him a nod in return.

"I take it you want me to go to the Warren while the Guardians scramble to figure out what happened to Jackie boy?" Ember asked, running her palms up and down on the door. She could feel the heat through the door, and it felt good under her hands.

"You have the Guardians running scared," Pitch practically purred to her. She could tell the king of fear was quite impressed with her performance thus far. He had an aura of fear rolling off of him from all the kids now under his spell. The weakened Guardians stood no chance in a direct confrontation, but Pitch didn't want to just beat Manny's chosen, he wanted them destroyed in every way possible. Pitch wanted children to not just believe in the fear, but he wanted to be sure no child would ever speak of the Guardians again. "I want to keep it that way."

"So the Warren?" Ember repeated unsure if he was even listening to her. She frowned when he didn't answer again, so she gave the king a small shove. "Did you or did you not want me to go to the Warren?"

"I want no Warren to be left," Pitch growled glaring down at the girl. He was trying to savor this moment, and she was being disrespectful to the king of fear. "Burn it to the ground."

"That I can do," she said with a smile before glancing at the door she was leaning on. Ember was eager to pay the spirit a visit and finally get the revenge she deserved. The saying was that revenge was a dish best served cold, and it seemed to be quite true… however, she really wanted to start heating up that dish very soon.

"I'll keep Jack occupied," he said grasping her chin with his right hand. He forced her to look at him and ignore the toy that was behind the door. "I'm the king of fear after all. I know what buttons to push while you're off," he waved his other hand dramatically, "setting things on fire."

"Eloquent," she replied before nodding and pushing past Pitch. "I'll be back in a few hours."

"Few hours?" he asked shooting a look over his shoulder at her.

"Well to do a job right, you have to do it thoroughly," Ember grinned before walking from the lair.

Composing himself, Pitch stepped into Jack's cell. The winter spirit glared up defiantly at him, and it just thrilled the king. He didn't like for his plaything to just break after a few hours; it was more fun to savor it, to drag out the fear.

Pitch knelt in front of Jack and gave him a small smile. "The Guardians are going to lose Jack," he said, his tone neutral. "The workshop is ashes, memories are charred, and now the Warren will be a smoldering pile of nothing."

Jack strained against his restraints and cursed Pitch through his gag. His bright blue eyes stared rebelliously at the Nightmare king. He just couldn't fathom the Guardians losing; it wasn't possible to the young spirit. He believed whole heartedly that they would all find a way back from this and win… which meant he wasn't going to show weakness in front of Pitch.

"Now doesn't that sound like _fun_," Pitch continued running the back of his hand down the young spirit's cheek. Finally stepping away, the Nightmare king headed for the door. "I was wrong Jack… Cold and dark don't go together as well as dark and fire does."

Opening the door to the cell, Pitch stepped out but not before saying one more thing. "I still know your darkest fear… Enjoy the cell in silence and darkness because no one is going to come for you. You're all alone and the Guardians aren't going to come for someone like you." With that, black sand from the wall molded away to cover Jack's eyes and his ears. The world was cast into shadows and stillness.

The winter spirit started to scream against the gag again, but he couldn't even really hear himself. There was nothing he could see or hear, and Jack shuddered against his restraints. He had never been claustrophobic before, but this reminded him so much of when he first awoke after falling into the lake. The only thing missing was the cold air he was craving, but instead, that fire was probably still going in the corner if the heat in the room was any indication. He couldn't help it; he whimpered at the loss of all his senses. Too bad that was only the beginning for the spirit as his mind was soon assaulted by nightmares as his body was forced to sleep.

…

It hadn't taken long for Ember to reach the Warren, and she was glad to be alone to her thoughts for a moment. She hadn't had much chance the last few days. The Guardians gave her a headache, and she didn't entirely trust Pitch. She knew he was trying to use her, but as long as she got what she wanted, Ember didn't really care.

Currently, she was sitting on top of one of those strange egg statues. She found it oddly creepy to look at, and she was going to take great pleasure in burning it to a crisp. Glancing over the entirety of the Warren, even she had to admit it was a beautiful green. She almost felt bad for having to destroy it, but she wasn't in the mood to deal with any of the Nightmare king's mood swings if she didn't do her job.

Floating a few feet in the air, she shrugged her bow from her shoulder and pulled back a deep red arrow. She'd prefer to use blue arrows, the hottest fire, but in truth, she had never been able to get her body to go that hot. She had gotten close a few occasions, but she could just never get over that hump or whatever was blocking her from the full use of her powers.

"I wonder if I can make a few omelets," she said noticing a few eggs still prancing around even though it was the middle of August. She aimed for a bush in the Warren that was sure to burn bright and quick… but she found herself hesitating. In the back of her mind, she thought of what this place would have meant to her sister. The workshop had been an accident (for the most part), and she hadn't destroyed as much of the palace as she could have… Could she truly turn a place like this untouched and perfect into nothing more than a pile of ash?

Releasing the arrow, it struck true at the base of the bush which caught how she thought. Turning in the air, Ember continued to fire off arrows at anything that seemed like it could burn well. A few of the small eggs took off, and she took each of them out akin to target practice.

With the Guardians still in Antarctica, Ember knew she could take her time. She slowly floated across the entirety of the Warren setting everything on fire eventually. She turned the once lush Warren into a black, smoldering pile of nothing. All the trees that once existed were now charred beyond resemblance, the grass was a disgusting shade of brown, and any water had dried up from the heat of it all. When she finished, the Warren looked unrecognizable, and only then, did she lower her bow. Her sister would have loved this place…

With that thought, she flew back to Pitch not wanting to wait around and see what Bunny would say and try to do to her for this. She could only imagine his reaction, and at that thought, she smiled. One more Guardian down. All she had left to do was break Jack Frost, and in her mind, that would be the end of the Man in the Moon's precious soldiers.

…

Jack found himself trembling as he came out of the newest nightmare. He had reached a point where he couldn't tell the difference in reality or the dream state. All his nightmares started with him in this cell, so he closed his eyes behind the blindfold and tried to think if he was awake or if this was just the start of another terror.

The young Guardian didn't get much chance to calm his heart or his head before he felt pressure on his now stretched out legs. Someone was sitting on him; he muffled his disagreements through the gag, but whoever it was, Pitch or Ember, they paid him no mind. He felt a hand in his hair, and he couldn't help but tense up. In his mind, it didn't matter which one it was; both the fire spirit and Nightmare king were bad.

Whoever it was, they leaned in; he could feel their breath on his cheek. Panic was starting to set in; without his senses, this was five times worse than it could have been. Jack would have been content just to know who was sitting on him; it would have given him a better idea on how to act. He felt the sand fall away from his ears, and he tried not to show his excitement at being able to at least hear again.

Jack hissed as his head was forced back against the wall of the cell, but whoever was with him still didn't speak. However, he could finally tell who it was based on the amount of heat being thrust in his way. He didn't think it was possible to sweat as much as he was now; droplets were scattered across his entire body, and he was sure his sweater was soaking in some places.

He muffled his question through the gag- what she wanted, why, but of course, it just came out as nothing. With this gag on, he couldn't even ask the questions that had been bothering him since she set the entire workshop on fire. He just wanted to know why. He bucked against the weight on him, but he heard her chuckle before noticing he was feeling drops fall down on his neck. He had just thought he was sweating more, but now he wasn't so sure. Was she crying?

"My sister would have loved the warren," she said suddenly, he could hear her voice slightly choked. "I almost felt bad turning it into nothing." Jack screamed against the gag; were the Guardians hurt? Did she kill them? The questions were piling up in his head. "Oh please stop making those noises. You sound like a dying animal. It's bothersome."

When he went to continue yelling at her through the gag, he felt her other hand not in his hair go around his throat. The burning started almost immediately after, and he started to scream into the gag. "Are you going to _shut up_ now?" she hissed into his ear as she tightened her grip around his throat.

Tears streaming down his face, Jack forced his head to nod… anything to get the pain to stop. Ember slowly released her grip from his neck, but she didn't the fire away completely. Hand still blazing, she trailed a finger down his neck, and she felt him tremble under her. It crossed her mind how easily she could destroy the guardian of fun right now. It would be over… she just wondered if the pain and anger would leave with his death. But… but, she contained herself and finally drew away. There were things worse than death; she more than anyone knew this.

"Oh don't cry," she whispered brushing his tears away with her fingers. He hissed at the contact, more heat being pushed into his body. He hoped she was feeling his power in turn, but he doubted it. With the heat all around him and no staff, he wasn't exactly formidable at the moment. He let his head droop at the thought, so that his chin rested on his chest.

The restraints fell from his eyes and his mouth finally. He took a deep shuddering breath before forcing himself to look Ember in her eyes. The green stared back and he realized he had never seen her eye color until now. It was a stark contradiction to her dark red hair and the scar on her face.

Gulping down, he asked, "Why? Why all of this?" He coughed from just the exertion of talking; her choking had done more than he thought.

"I told you Jack," she said like she was speaking to a child, smiling at him. "To make you suffer. I've made sure the Guardians can never come for you."

"Why… why don't you just kill me?" he panted out, not wanting to ask this question but this room was torture.

She licked her lips and looked him right in the eyes. "Because Jack, that would be too quick. You're immortal which means you can suffer for eternity for what you've done." The last statement came out more as a hiss. "You're going to sit here in the dark, no sight, no sound, no one to keep you company. Your worst nightmare of being abandoned and left alone come true." He found himself shaking at her words; Jack couldn't fathom being left in this cell for another hour let alone all of his immortal life.

He found his body shaking at the notion, and tears threatened to fall from the emotional impact of her words. The worst part of all of this was that he believed her; he could see himself sitting in this room waiting for a rescue that would never come… He shook his head, "I just don't understand…" He forced himself. "What did I do to you?" he asked gaining his voice and confidence back.

Ember released his hair and leaned back, so that she was sitting on his knees. She was smiling cruelly at him. Suddenly, Jack wasn't even sure he wanted to know. He stared hard at her trying to see if he remembered from all the kids he had been around the past few years, but she wasn't there.

She was reaching up for one of his hands which came free from the sand with no effort on her part. She seized his hand before he got any wild ideas. Moving so that she was on her knees now and not touching the winter spirit anyway, she took his hand and placed it on the burn on her stomach. She made sure his fingers touched it. Even if the cold of his touch made her uncomfortable, she wanted him to feel every inch. She took his hand from her abdomen and had him touch the burn lightly on her leg before finally placing his hand on her cheek. He could feel every warp of the burn, every place where the skin had to re-knit itself after whatever fire had caused this.

"I don't…" he started as she placed her hand over his on her cheek. Fire raced through his arm, and she kept her icy stare on him even when there was numbing cold running through her face now.

"Because Jack," she whispered cocking her head and letting him touch her burn as he willed as her hand dropped away. "All of this," she said referring to her face and body, "is your fault." Jack's head snapped up to meet her gaze. "My death, my burns… my sister's death is _your _fault."

**Chapter 13:** Jack gets to see the hell Ember lived before becoming the monster she is.

**OOC:** Sorry for the lateness of the chapter. I am not 100% today, and I wanted to make this last scene perfect. I wanted everyone to see it in their head- the anger, the confusion, the pain. There is Jack whump in the next chapter along with a lot of angst. Ember didn't become this because of sunshine and daises after all.


	13. Memories

**Chapter 13**

Bunny stared at what was left of his home, and the sad reality was that there wasn't anything left untouched. Everywhere he looked there was fire and more fire. While Bunnymund wasn't usually overly emotional, this was tugging at him. His entire home, his realm, had been destroyed while they had been out looking for Frostbite.

"It's his fault," he was able to hiss out while trying to keep control the sadness welling up inside his body. "If we hadn't been looking for him…" His words faded off.

"You don't mean that," Tooth said fluttering down next to Bunny; she almost missed her step. Her powers were fading, but not too terribly quick since Ember hadn't completely burnt down the palace.

"We fix this," North said gruffly coming up behind the other two. He made a face at the sight of destruction, but he had to keep positive for the other Guardians. "All we need to do is put new plants in the ground and…" He waved his hands around. "It be back to normal."

Bunny snorted at that and just sat on the ground staring at one of the destroyed eggs; even his statues looked fried. Nothing looked remotely like what it should have, and every time Bunny's eyes landed on another dead plant or destroyed object, he just felt himself sinking a bit more into despair. What probably crushed him the most was the fact the rivers he used to color the eggs was completely dried up. There wasn't a drop of water left. Since he was sitting next to one of the dried beds, he couldn't help but run his paw against the parched soil.

"Not ev'n Pitch went this far," Bunny said staring at the broken eggshells in his paw. He closed his hand around it and crunched it more. "Why?"

Tooth touched Bunny's shoulder before opening her hand and showing the two teeth she was able to save from Ember's rage. "We could find out?" She looked up at North to see what he wanted to do, and he took a seat next to the other two Guardians.

"Let's," he said. "Then we find Jack."

While it wasn't supposed to be easy for Tooth to activate the memories for others to see without the child present, she focused and brought the memories forefront and center. The Guardians looked up to see a scene unfold in front of them.

…

"How could I do that?" Jack said, his eyes wide as Ember moved his hand from her face back to the wall. The sand reformed a shackle, but the winter spirit barely noticed. He was trying to process this new information.

"Because," she hissed grasping his face in her hand. "Because Jack Frost you never think before you act." She threw his head back against the wall which make a resounding crack. "You think your powers cause all fun and games… but you never think about what else they can do." She was glaring at Frost now, her body glowing with her anger and the fire sprouting off of her. Jack tried to sink into the wall to get away from the heat, but he was thoroughly stuck.

"I give children fun," he argued. "Your powers are the destructive ones."

The look she gave him was the look a parent would give a child after they did or said something incredibly stupid- it was the 'aww you're such an adorable idiot'. "You do realize while you can't appreciate it, fire can be used to keep someone warm when they're freezing to death," she pointed out walking her fingers up his chest. Jack turned to his head the closer she got to the burn on his neck.

"Better yet don't you know what extreme cold can do to power lines or say pipes?" she continued snatching his face. "Look at me," she hissed. "You want to know why, fine, but you will look at me when I tell you _why_." He didn't look away again. "There's a reason Pitch doesn't scare me like he seems to scare the rest of you."

"He doesn't scare me," Jack started to protest but she pressed her finger against his lips. When she moved back, he had to lick his lips to try and cool them back off.

"No but the things he can do to you does," she said with a grin. "Leaving you with no sight, no speech, no hearing… that does scare you." Finally, Ember got off Jack's lap basically and crossed the room to sit next to the door. She sat with her legs stretched out and crossed. "Now as I was saying, Pitch doesn't scare me because he can't. " This got Jack's attention. "It's difficult to be afraid of a dream when your real life is far worse."

_ Amber sat next to Melanie reading her a story about the Easter Bunny; the six year old was enraptured. She looked up to her big sister, she was her hero. Melanie fidgeted on her small cot as the story continued, but she didn't want to miss the good part where the Easter bunny delivered all the eggs to the children all around the world. She loved that part, and she loved the fact he was a bunny. To Melanie, bunnies were the most fuzzy and adorable creatures ever. _

_ From the room, both sisters heard the door slam. Amber's head snapped at the sound and she was shoving the book under the mattress and picking her sister up in one smooth move. With practiced ease, Amber placed Melanie in the closet and gave her younger sister a comforting smile. _

_ "Stay here Mel," she said handing the little girl her stuffed bunny. "Let me just go and see if he's okay." Amber was good to keep the tremor from her voice._

_ "Promise you come back?" Melanie whispered. "The closet scares me."_

_ "Of course I'll come back," Amber answered pressing a kiss to the young girl's forehead. "And you know I keep the monsters away." Melanie nodded quickly as the older sister stood and shut the door making sure it was secure before heading into the living room._

_ Amber was thirteen years older than Melanie, and they were technically only half sisters; different Fathers, same Mother, but it didn't matter to Amber. Her little sister was her world, and she'd do anything for her. Even this. Even facing the real monster. She crossed her fingers as she stepped towards the kitchen hoping Father wasn't drunk as he usually was._

_ She cringed when she saw him sloshing over the kitchen counter, and she took a deep breath stepping towards the man. He was drinking a beer and didn't seem to notice his step daughter's presence. Amber thought about going back to her little sister's room and just locking them in as she would do some nights, but Mom wasn't home yet. If she didn't check on him now, and Mom came home, she would be risking her Mother taking his brunt. _

_ "Dad?" she whispered once she was close enough, and he spun at the sound, his beer spilling all over the floor._

_ "Syou don't get to call me that slut," he slurred. Amber kept herself calm, he had called her worse things over the years. "You're so lucky you get to live in MY house and eat MY food, you good for nothing…" _

_ Amber didn't even dodge the first hit; it blinded her across her face. It was another bruise she would have to cover in the morning. At least again her little sister would never feel this brunt. The next hit put her to the ground; she didn't even bother pleading as she knew it would only anger him and make it worse for her. The last time she had begged for him to stop, her head had gone into a mirror, and at the emergency room, she had to make up an excuse about how she 'tripped' and fell. _

_ More than anything, the elder sister wanted to get her Mom and Melanie out of this situation, but they had tried that once. He had just found them, and he had almost killed Mom. Amber almost cried at that thought which Father took to think she was crying about being punished, so he slammed his foot into her ribs. Just a few more months… just a few more, and Amber was sure she could get the three of them to disappear for good._

_ As another kick descended, she couldn't help but wonder if she would make it another three months…_

Ember stared at Jack judging his reaction to her story thus far. She hadn't shared this with anyone ever, and these were the memories she had always wanted to keep secret. Just thinking about them now, she had to lower her head to hide the pain in her eyes. She had been so weak then; if she had only been stronger, she could have gotten them all out sooner. They wouldn't have died… She blamed Jack Frost for their deaths, but she also knew part of the blame was on her head. Yet she lived everyday with that guilt and that anger; she was being punished for it. It was only fair that he knew his part and get to suffer with her.

"I can't tell you how many nights I took the beatings so my sister wouldn't have to," she whispered rubbing her face with one of her hands. "I'd keep her in that closet until he passed out from a drunken stupor."

"I can't imagine," Jack whispered not sure how to take in this information. He could think she was lying, but somehow staring at her now, he had a feeling this was the barest truth.

"So many other nights," Ember continued, "I'd sit with my sister and rock her to sleep. She said the monster under the bed scared her… I don't think she ever realized the monster outside her door was far more real and far worse."

"You lived a nightmare," the winter spirit said shaking his head sadly. "You protected her."

"I would have died for her," she countered. "And instead, I died with her."

"I create fun," he protested. "How did I…"

"Let me finish snow cone," she growled meeting his gaze. "After a particularly bad night, I decided enough was enough. I found a job at a bar across town. It wasn't perfect, but I could avoid a small loft, and one day while _he_ was out, I got them both out of there and left no trace… I was too optimistic."

_"I've got to go to work Mom," Amber said pulling on the short black skirt and tying up her halter top. "We need the money."_

_ "I know honey," she sighed. "I just wish you didn't work there."_

_ "Tips are good," the elder sister shrugged. "And no one will ever recognize me in a club like that." With that, she moved over to Melanie who was sitting on the floor playing with a toy."Be good."_

_ "What if the boogeyman comes while you're gone?" the younger sister asked innocently enough._

_ "Just remember he can't get by me," Amber said with a wink. "I'll fight him off with my bare hands if I must." Melanie giggled at the sight of her older sister gesturing wildly. "I'll see you guys in a few hours."_

_ Running outside, Amber pulled her jacket tighter to her body and tried not shiver as she walked through the blizzard. It was a nasty one today, and she idly hoped they wouldn't lose power again tonight. The flat had become unbearably cold last time, and it wasn't good for a growing girl like Melanie to be subjugated to such temperatures. As she walked, she glanced up to see the power lines and telephone lines frozen basically solid. It was going to be a long night._

_ And Amber was quite correct in that assumption. She spent most of her night serving drinks to men who couldn't keep their hands to themselves, but at least, she was never struck at her job. That was always a plus, and the tips were very good as long as she could keep her head and not threaten to cut off a patron's arm… again. _

_ Exhausted, Amber basically slept walked into her flat without even realizing the door had been unlocked which should have been odd. Forcing herself to her bed, she hit it face first and was immediately out. However, she didn't dream well; she didn't dream at all. Amber got to experience usually what only her sister did- night terrors. Amber remembered well that for almost a year previous how Melanie couldn't sleep a wink without waking up screaming. Finally, the elder sister moved into the room with her to try and calm her dreams, and it seemed to work. Yet tonight, Amber was the one who needed help to try and quiet her dreams. Over and over, she dreamt of her family dying, of the screams, of a warehouse, of fire, and of her step Father's death… the last thing she dreamt was a voice telling her in her dream that she had to get up, get up NOW._

_ Amber's eyes snapped open, and she glanced around the room wondering why a dream would wake her so severely. She rarely had nightmares since she lived a real life terror usually. And that was when she noticed the smoke billowing under her door. Her eyes snapped open, and she bolted for her bedroom door slamming her body against it when she realized it was stuck. _

_ "Melanie!" she screamed. "Melanie!"_

_ The voice that came next ran her blood cold. "If I can't have her, no one will," her step father said through the door._

_ "Don't you dare!" Amber yelled. "No don't!" She banged on the door harder trying to break it down while choking on the smoke coming under the door. _

_Finally, the door gave as the chair blocking it smashed. Amber ran out into the living room to see a massive blaze in the middle of the apartment. On the other side of the fire stood her step Father and Melanie, who was crying. _

"_It's going to be okay Melanie," Amber said looking for a way through the fire. "I'm going to come get you." It was then she saw her bow, the one treat she had gotten herself three years ago when she was sixteen. She wasn't a perfect shot, but she figured any weapon was better than none. "I'm going to come get you, okay?"_

_Her step Father didn't move from the window, but he kept a hand on Melanie's shoulder. Slowly, Amber picked up her bow then the phone to which she heard nothing. No dial tone, no static. The power was out, but that shouldn't have affected a phone in the wall._

"_Telephone lines are down due to the blizzard," her Father said gruffly tightening his hold on Melanie as she cried harder. _

"_Just let her go," Amber begged. "Please let her go." Notching an arrow, the elder sister aimed for his heart; she just needed one good shot. The fire was going hotter; her lips were cracked from the heat and sweat was pouring down her face. Her eyes shifted to the kitchen for the briefest moments to see a knife sticking from the back of her Mom's neck. Amber choked up on the sight, but she had to focus. She had to save Melanie._

"_Don't do this," Amber tried one more time. "Please don't or I'll shoot."_

"_If I can't have her, no one will," he repeated before turning towards the elder sibling. As he did so, he dropped a lighter he had in his hand. Amber couldn't see it when he was facing the window, but now, she could only watch in horror as more fire erupted underneath her Father and Melanie. _

"_No!" Amber screamed reaching through the blaze. She smelt something burning, heard the sizzling and cracking, and it took her a moment to realize it was her own flesh cooking. She ignored the agony and tried to reach for her sister, but she couldn't. The fire was too hot, she was too far. Melanie thankfully had moved far enough away from her Father, so that she wasn't on fire yet…_

"_I'll be right back," Amber promised. "I'm going to go get help real quick!" _

_Melanie screamed for her to stay, for her to come to her, but Amber knew when she needed help. Ignoring the pain of her wounds, she ran as quickly as she could into the cold. She needed to get help; she had to save her sister. She had barely made it two steps outside when she slipped on the ice by the door and smashed into the ground._

_The next time she woke there were fire fighters all around, and she was on a stretcher. Half of her body was covered in bandages. She felt weak, and she could still see the fire blazing in her apartment, but no one was doing anything. _

"_Please my sister," Amber whispered, her throat felt constricted and tight. _

_A fire fighter noticed her and stepped over to the stretcher. He took her good hand. "I'm sorry… the fire…"_

"_Do something!" she tried to shout but it came out as a croak. _

"_I'm sorry," he said squeezing her hand. "The pipes in the city are frozen from the blizzard. There is nothing we can do. The fire is just too hot and too dangerous."_

_With a wail, Amber broke down and threw her head back against the pillow. A few others looked over at her, but not that it mattered much. She knew she was dying; she could feel her body shutting down on itself. It was fine with her too; she had failed her sister, she deserved for her body to do this to her. She deserved far worse…_

"Your storm," Ember hissed. "Your fucking storm!" She was on her feet, and before Jack could even say anything, she had kicked him across the face forcing his head to snap to the side. "My sister burnt to death because you not only caused power lines and telephone lines to freeze but the pipes. The water pipes needed to stop the fire!" She fell to her knees next to Jack. "Oh yes, it's my fault too that she's dead but…" Ember wrapped her hands around his throat just as the black sand returned to gag him. "But her death is also on your head… Because you didn't think. Your snow days aren't all fun and games. Your actions have consequences." The fire exploded from her hands and ran across Jack's body. He convulsed trying to get away, shaking and shuddering form the pain. He screamed into the gag.

"This is how my sister felt as she died," Ember hissed. "Alone, scared, unable to scream as the smoke choked her, and in agony."

**Chapter 14:** Jack doesn't know what to think, and Ember is far from fine. She's been through more than anyone could deal with for a few years, but she's been immortalized with these memories. The Guardians don't know what to think about what they saw, but they know now they have to help Jack before Ember snaps more than she already has.

**OOC:** All right let me say thanks to all my reviewers. You guys are so amazing; the compliments about Ember really keep me going. It makes me smile knowing that you guys like her and think she's original.  
Now, back to the story, there is still a fight to be had.

Review as I want to know what you guys thought about Ember's back story. I didn't want her to be ruthless for no reason, but she's had 3 decades to think about the pain her sister was in, so she isn't what you call stable.


	14. Strength

**OOC:** Jeez guys trying to beat me to the next part here. I wasn't going to reveal everything right away, but viola, for those wondering how Ember knew it was Jack- it's in there. Also, one of my amazing reviewers pointed out how she shouldn't be able to put the blame on Jack, and you're right she shouldn't… But her sister died, she blames herself, but when something like that happens, you always want someone else to blame, someone else to hurt to try and make it better. High fives to all you guys!

**Chapter 14**

Ember finally got herself composed and let the winter spirit breath. She stepped back and paced the room trying to calm herself down from the fit of rage. If she didn't take a deep breath, she was likely to just burn the white haired spirit until she got down to the bone. As it was, she looked back to see the spirit raggedly drawing a breath. She had let her anger get the best of her, but at least, she had backed off before doing permanent damage. After all, he couldn't very well suffer when he was dead.

"So you see," she continued once she felt composed enough to do so. "Your storm kept me from calling for help and kept those fire fighters from saving her. She was so scared, and I left her." She heard Jack mumble something against the gag, but she just ignored it choosing to stare into the corner that had the small fire. "I suffer every day for it… now I hope your guilt makes you suffer as I have."

She glanced over her shoulder to see Jack straining against his restraints, tears forming in his eyes. He was shaking his head like he didn't believe it, but Ember wasn't lying. This was the truth of her life and her death and her anger. Now Jack could share it with her, and she had a feeling it would affect the spirit of fun more than it did with her. She hated herself for what happened that night, but she knew she was angry, and she knew what her powers could do. Ember knew that Jack thought he was a good spirit that brought fun and joy to kids, and now, she had dropped the bomb that his actions had consequences. Her eyes focused in on the struggling winter spirit; she wondered if this would break him even.

"And to answer the question that's probably plaguing your mind," she said finally coming back over to the Guardian and kneeling next to him. "Pitch is the reason I woke up that night. His nightmare snapped me awake. I would have died in my sleep and my sister could have been dragged off… She was still lost to me, but that is partially why I'm helping him." The back of her hand trailed down his cheek. "That's why I've killed off all the hope in the world, all the dreams, and why I've gone after the memories." She placed her hands in her lap while still staring at Jack. "And besides me owing him, he told me if I helped him, I got you."

Jack looked ready to be sick; he pulled against the restraints before dropping his head in defeat. The more he thoughts about what Ember just told him, the more it ate him up on the inside. He had never thought of his powers as a bad thing; he loved watching the kids smile or Bunny glare from all the snow. Not once did he think it could have an adverse effect. He zoned out not wanting to listen anymore; he knew she was going on about how she found out it was him. She was explaining once she woke back up only to discover herself like this that she had planned to go isolate herself. But she had woken back up in her town, and she had the luck of running into another spirit. They were complaining about the infamous 'Jack Frost' and this storm… After that, Ember said she just went into her own version of solitary confinement as she didn't understand why she was back or anything like that…

Jack sat silently. An eternity alone was bad enough, but with this knowledge that his gift had led to a girl's death… Jack wished that Ember would just get angry enough with him and kill him. Then, it would be over. He had never thought the fire spirit in front of him was anything but an angry spirit. It never struck him once after she started to tear the Guardians apart how she came to be like this, that her death was just a tragic as his own. Hers more so as she didn't even get to live with the knowledge her little sister got to go on.

"Let's play a game," Ember was suddenly saying straddling Jack again. His entire body tensed up; he seriously doubted he'd like any game she dreamt of. "It's like 20 questions but with fire." He tried not to shake as her right hand turned a bright red and small flames licked off the skin. "If you answer them truthfully or right, I move my hand away. You lie, and I'll enjoy watching you squirm as…" she moved her hand close to his face, and he turned to the side trying to avoid the fire, his eyes clenched shut. "You only need your ears and mouth for this, don't you think?" And her sadistic smile was the last thing he saw before a dark sand band blocked out his vision again.

…

The three Guardians just sat in shock. There wasn't anything they could think of to say after seeing the memories contained in the two teeth; they had gotten lucky with what memories. They had seen what she had gone through at home, and they had seen her die.

"Well that explains why Manny chose her," Tooth whispered. "She died saving…" the Guardian couldn't finish her statement. They all knew not every child lived a perfect life, but they had never seen such bad circumstances.

"It don't explain her hatred for Jack," Bunny mumbled. "I mean I recognize the night she died… that storm he had caused four cities to be frozen."

"That was Easter night wasn't it?" Tooth asked to which Bunny barely nodded.

"He had come to try and talk to me," he answered, his ears lying back against his head. "And I blew him off."

"He was upset," North said thinking over what he had seen.

"What are we going to do?" Tooth said, glancing up at the Guardians through her feathers. "I'm not sure I can…"

"We have no choice," North said placing his large hand on her shoulder. "She must be stopped."

"Maybe Pitch is manipulating her," Bunny suggested; his mind was still stuck in the past. He remembered finishing up Easter when Jack had appeared to him trying to talk to him… and Bunny told him to get lost… told him that as the Easter Bunny he had far more important things to do… He even remembered after that storm how all the other spirits and creatures wouldn't stop talking about it for weeks.

Then like a ton of bricks it hit them, "Oh my! Where's Sandy?" Tooth was suddenly on her feet looking around the Warren. They had put him here to avoid any chance of destruction. All the Guardians looked around frantically, but they didn't see the statue.

"We lost Frostbite and Sandy," Bunny said already feeling his powers dwindling with the destruction of his home.

"We will fix this," North said trying to hide his frown behind his beard. "We find Sandy and rescue Jack." There was little doubt left in the Russian's mind that Jack had been captured; he couldn't be dead, North refused to think that.

From the ashes, golden sand started to sweep around the Warren, and each Guardian couldn't hide their smile as the sand moved into a vortex. They stepped towards it in time for Sandy to step out of the vortex and tip his strange bowler hat at them. Tooth squealed in excitement, and even Bunny got a smile on his face.

"Sandy!" North cried happily patting the other Guardian on his shoulder.

"But how?" Bunny asked, and as if someone heard their question, a single ray of light seemed to focus on the Guardians. They looked up to the sky to see the moon, and they couldn't help it, they smiled. Odds were against them, but they had Manny on their side.

…

"So Jack," Ember said, he could feel her breath on his cheek. "Have you ever thought your actions have consequences?"

"Of course I…" Jack started but stopped when he felt the heat of her hand move closer to her chest.

"What did I say about lying?" she hissed. "Try that answer again."

Jack audibly gulped before answer, "No I didn't." The heat didn't move close, but it didn't move away either. He squirmed slightly not liking how he couldn't see the fire, only feel it.

"Which would explain how you've almost killed kids in the past with your power…" she started to say but Jack interrupted.

"I have never hurt a child," he growled pulling against the restraints. Perhaps, his actions had led to her sister's death, but he had never purposefully done it.

"Six years ago, Jamie," she said. "You took him on a sled ride through _traffic_."

"I had him," Jack argued, and he felt the heat come closer.

"No you thought you did," she hissed. "He could have died, should have really." Jack didn't have an answer for that. Ember just continued with her questions a moment later. "Why did you create such a bad storm?"

"I…," he answered breathless, and this time, she didn't push for an answer right away. Jack had to think back all those years ago even though he knew exactly what storm she was talking about. "I had tried to get the Guardians' attention again. They… they were the only ones I thought I could get my answers from, but Bunny wouldn't have it. He told me to get lost." Jack let loose a choked laugh. "I was so angry, so upset… I didn't." Finally he admitted probably what Ember wanted the most. "I didn't think."

"No you didn't. Which makes me wonder why you make snow at all?" she asked.

"It lets them have fun," he replied thinking of the snowball fights he had with Jamie all those years ago. They hadn't had a good one since he reached his teenage years, and Jack couldn't help but worry about him again. She never said what she had done with him.

"You know," she sighed. "Once I found out it was Jack Frost's storm that night, I tried to look into you. Who you were, what you were, all that fun…" He heard her trail off, and he wondered what she was doing. "But I didn't come after you. Not until Pitch gave me the chance."

"Why not?" Jack couldn't help but ask.

"Truthfully," she sighed. "I didn't know where to start looking except in cold regions, and I had to be punished for my part in my sister's death hence self exile." He could hear the sadness in her voice, and he realized she probably was a good person before all of this.

"If you're a spirit," Jack said hoping to reason with the fiery girl, "then the Man in the Moon chose you for a reason. Just as he chose all of us to be something."

He felt the sting of heat against his skin, and he tried not to hiss at how close it was. "All I was chosen for was to suffer for my actions." He heard her growl before the heat disintegrated and felt her move away. Before Jack could ask where she was going, a band of sand slid back across his mouth. "And now you'll get to suffer in this silence and darkness for your part too." That was the last thing he heard before his hearing was cut off from the world, and he was shrouded in darkness.

The winter spirit sat silently trying to comprehend everything that had happened. His actions had led to this. He couldn't stop the choked sob that ripped from his chest; everything that had happened was linked to his actions. All of the trouble he had caused the Guardians was on him; Ember wasn't going to stop until there was nothing left of him. He almost wished she would just kill him and get it over with, but Jack knew he couldn't think like that. If he gave up like this, Pitch and she would win, and the world would be overrun with darkness. He hated himself for what happened, but he had to at least be sure the rest of the Guardians could stop her… Afterwards, he could send himself into self exile if necessary. But not a moment before. Jack refused to give into Pitch and Ember; he was a Guardian now. He couldn't just think about himself or his past mistakes, he had to think of the children. He had to protect the ones now; he was chosen for a reason, he had to believe that… which meant he had to get out of here.

**Chapter 15**: Jack hatches an insane escape plan while Pitch and Ember plan their last move without realizing the Sandman is back in the game. Will the Guardians see this through or will fire and dark truly win?

**OOC:** So I'm sure some of you will notice a contradiction in this chapter compared to the last (not saying what in case you didn't see it- no spoilers) but it is supposed to be like that. I did that on purpose, and you'll see why in another 2 or so chapters. Let me know what you think. There will be more Pitch in the coming chapters as he will now be working next to Ember instead of just sending her out to deal with the Guardians… So we're coming to the end of this story, hope you're still enjoying the ride. R&R


	15. Escape

**Chapter 15**

"Are you enjoying your toy?" Pitch practically purred as Ember left Jack's room. She didn't even look up at the Nightmare king. She wasn't in the mood to deal with his soliloquy. "I'm glad you are finally getting the justice your sister deserves."

"Yeah," Ember muttered continuing to head back into the main foyer. She could feel the king of fear behind her just trailing her. She could feel his yellow gaze burning a hole in her back. In her mind, there was still a job to do; the Guardians were divided but not defeated.

Ember was able to walk into the main room where all the cages hung before she turned to face Pitch. He was smiling at her, his razor teeth showing, and she just casted her look to the ground. Today was becoming an emotionally exhaustive day; never in all her years did she think she would be standing her in front of the boogeyman with the chance to get revenge. It was a bit overwhelming to think about.

"I'm ready," Pitch said, his smile growing. "My powers are unstoppable now. The Guardians need to be reminded that you can't kill fear."

"Nope," she agreed. "You can only kill the person feeling it." That was more for herself than for Pitch, but his gaze narrowed with her words.

"Yes well," he said waving off her comments, "this world will know to believe and fear me."

"Have fun with that," she said, and this time the Nightmare king didn't let her comments slide. He stepped forward and wrapped his hand around her throat. She didn't struggle, and she barely glared up at him. "You and I both know I'm not afraid of you. My fear died in that fire."

"Yes most of it did," he hissed. "But remember, I can still smell fear, and yours is there albeit faintly." She knew a concealed threat when she heard it; he had the power to make her dream of the fire over and over if he wanted.

"How about we focus on the Guardians or what's left of them?" she suggested, her grip tightening on the bow on her shoulder. The longer she was around him, the more she wondered if it was possible to shove him into a box and never let him out.

"They are starting to be forgotten," he chuckled as he released the fire spirit. She shrugged her bow off and held it tightly in her right hand. "They are finished. Then we can rule and be believed in."

"You have fun with that," she said stepping away from the boogeyman. He looked ready to argue, but she held up her hand. "The deal was I help you take down the Guardians and I could make Jack suffer for what he did to my sister… I don't care to be believed in. Never again will I be, that's my punishment." She saw Pitch purse his lips with her words, but he gave her a short nod. "You can have the entire world for your taking; I'm going back to the equator after this."

"As for Jack?" he grinned, licking his lips at the thought of the frightened spirit in the other room. He could taste the fear in the air along with a mix of defiance. Pitch couldn't help but wonder how the boy was still able to struggle after being told Ember blamed him for a part of her sister's death. He had figured that would destroy any fight in him, but oh well. Pitch figured this just meant he could have the honor of turning the annoying young spirit into a quivering pile of panic and anxiety. He could already see it, his own personal Guardian that would always be around to feed him fear.

"I don't… I don't care," Ember said with a shake of her head. She was tired; she didn't want to think about the winter spirit anymore. She said her peace; she told him what had haunted her. For now, she just wanted to forget. She ran a weary hand across her face and tried to focus on the plan at hand. "Let's just finish this."

Pitch let it drop and tried not to roll his eyes with the thought of 'teenagers'. He followed behind the fire spirit as she left the lair, and he again enjoyed the fullness of the night. Next to him, he saw Ember allowed fire to consume her again before being picked up by a breeze. Pitch called his main nightmare and caught up with the fire spirit. The warren was gone, the workshop was gone, and she hadn't finished the job at the Palace… which meant they had to make one last stop before confronting the Guardians.

…

Jack pulled against his restraints only for them to stay as tight as they were before. He couldn't get loose no matter how much he struggled. He had to get out of here, he knew that, but there wasn't a plausible escape route yet. He could only hope at least Jamie was safe, but with someone as angry as Ember, he wasn't entirely sure if that was possible anymore. He felt lucky to not be burnt to a crisp after what she told him.

He relaxed his head against the back of the cell trying to keep the panic to a minimum. He wasn't even sure if he was in this cell alone; his hearing was cut before he could listen for the door. The thought that Ember could be standing across from him, just watching him squirm caused him to pause. He took deep breaths in through his nose trying to calm his racing heart. Even if she was watching him, Jack reminded himself that it wasn't like she was trying to burn a hole through his chest currently.

He went back to struggling and fighting against the hardened sand. Sadly the more he fought, the more exhausted he became. The last thing he wanted to do was fall asleep in here again. Sweat began to pool across his face as his muscles strained and his mind tired. What he needed was help or his staff… His staff would have been perfect as it would make his ice powers usable; he, sadly, had never learned to really use his powers without it. Suddenly, this seemed like a good time to try.

Focusing, Jack tried to drop the temperature of his body as he would do if he was in the presence of Ember. He knew in the past he had done it subconsciously when they fought in response to her higher body temperature. Diving deep into his own mind, Jack thought of how he felt when he fell into that lake- how cold it was, how his own blood felt frozen in his veins.

Jack felt a tremor run down his spine as the temperature fluctuated in the room; he smiled to himself before focusing again. He tried to make the cold go into the sand and freeze it. He tried not to smile to himself at the realization he was doing it. Jack knew with a bit more, he would be able to break free and help the guardians. He could just hope that he could keep Ember busy with his escape so that she wouldn't go after Jamie.

He mentally scolded himself for taking so long. He kept repeating in his mind 'come on Jack, come on.' Finally, he felt the shackles crack before he fell forward from the sudden release. Reaching up to his face, he pried off the rest of the sand and looked around the room. The fire had gone out from how cold he had made it; he could even see his own breath. In that moment, he felt like celebrating, but he knew he didn't have much time. He grabbed his staff that they were kind enough to leave in the other corner before blasting the door with ice.

Jack didn't waste any time before bolting from the lair; he had no idea that Ember and Pitch had already gone to the Palace. He just figured something probably heard his escape, and he didn't want to be around by the time they came for him.

He let the air lift him and tried not to hiss as his battered body resisted. The adrenaline was already wearing off, and with how hot he expected it to be outside, he knew he didn't have much time to meet up with the others. He figured his best shot was to either go to the Warren or the Palace, but he remembered Ember's words about how she turned it into nothing. Not seeing much choice, he took off for the Palace.

**Chapter 16:** The Guardians face off against Pitch and Ember… and Jack tries to return to the fight. His guilt starts to eat at him with every blast of cold air he uses, and as he finds himself crushing under the weight of what he did, he finds his powers failing… Can the Guardians get through this fight in one piece?

**OOC:** Sorry it's not as long as the last few, but that's because it's an intermediate chapter. It's meant to be a leeway into what's coming next. As for the reviewer who pointed out what Ember is doing is not justice but vengeance- you're completely right . Hope you guys are enjoying this R&R


	16. Together

**Chapter 16**

Pitch and Ember landed at the Palace with none of the Guardians in sight. A few of the smaller faeries were buzzing around, and they started to freak at the sight of the two newcomers. Both of them knew they now had little time to get started before Tooth heard about all of this. They glanced at each other before the Nightmare king gave the fire spirit a nod.

Ember raised her bow and aimed for another column of teeth. She knew what this would do; she knew this would ruin the Tooth fairy just as destroying the Warren had weakened the rabbit. She hesitated for a moment before changing her target to the tree next to the pond. This time she easily destroyed the tree, and then she fell into a rhythm of setting things on fire besides the teeth. She wasn't avoiding the teeth because of the fairy but because of the kid's memories. She had already destroyed a good chunk last time, and she felt all out of anger for the moment. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Pitch wasn't holding back knocking down columns and columns of teeth without faltering.

Together they had done damage to over half of the Palace before the first sign of resistance popped up. A boomerang came out of nowhere and clipped Ember on her shoulder blade; she was smart and fell with the hit into a roll. She turned and aimed an arrow at the limping Bunny. He didn't look too good.

"Where's Jack?" he growled at her, and she just smiled in return. While her anger felt all out of fuel, she still found sick pleasure in tormenting the Guardians.

"Who?" she asked in response before letting her arrow loose. Bunny was still smart enough to hop out of the way just as North appeared in his sleigh or a version of it at least. It reminded her of a rickety box, and he looked to have very little control of it. Still, North hopped out of it as he landed on a nearby platform just as Tooth fluttered up glaring at the two destructive beings.

"Oh look at all of you," Pitch said, his tone obviously teasing and sarcastic. "How does it feel to slowly become nothing? To be forgotten?" He pulled out his scythe and took a swing at the Guardians only for his arm to be frozen by a dream sand whip.

Ember glanced to the right to see Sandy floating on a saucer of his own sand, and he was glaring at the two of them. He obviously didn't enjoy being frozen based on the look he was giving her, and she just shot him a smile in return before turning her bow on him. This was a major setback in Pitch's mind as he cursed out the Sandman and started in on the fire spirit for apparently not doing her job.

"If you want something done right," he started to say turning also on Sandy. He went to attack the golden spirit when a blast of ice sent his careening towards the edge of the platform.

"Well that sucks," Ember sighed looking over to see Jack floating there.

"Jack!" North yelled happily. "Just in time."

The winter spirit didn't look happy, but she figured that was due to his treatment at their hands. Her eyes narrowed at the sight of the winter spirit, and she felt her hatred growing inside her. He was supposed to be tied up and frightened, not standing defiantly against her. "You don't seem to understand what it means to be a good prisoner," she growled rising up on her own breeze.

"I fidget a lot," he shrugged. "I got bored."

"Well allow me to entertain you," she hissed sending a blast of fire at him. The Guardians split up to either team against her or Pitch. She got both Tooth and Jack while the rest went after Pitch. She assumed that the reason for this was due to that only Tooth and Jack could fly after her.

Jack dodged the fireball while Tooth came up behind Ember. The fire spirit was smart though and flew higher to keep the Guardians on their toes. Tooth chased after and rammed her from below throwing off Ember, but she was quick to adjust and sent a wave of flames down.

"Just know this Jack," the fire spirit said. "When I'm done entertaining you here, I'll be sure to let Jamie know that his new treatment is a gift from you." That only seemed to fuel the winter spirit as he sent another shard of ice at her.

"You won't be able to touch him if you're going to stay with us as our guest," Jack retaliated. The two Guardians gave chase to Ember as she flew farther from the Palace.

Meanwhile Bunny, Sandy, and North took on Pitch. With the help of Sandy, they were able to at least keep the Nightmare king at bay; Bunny didn't even want to think about what would have happened if the golden spirit wasn't here. They had gotten lucky with Manny deciding to help again.

North blocked Pitch's scythe with both his swords while Sandy maneuvered around with his whips. Between dodging the golden dream sand and avoiding hits from the Guardians, he wasn't able to do much damage in turn. He scowled at the Guardians all being back; he hadn't expected Sandy or Jack to just show up. It was an instant thought: Ember's job was Sandy and Jack, yet somehow they were both back. Pitch couldn't help but connect the dots that perhaps the fire spirit wasn't fighting on the same side anymore. He chanced a glance to see the fire spirit dodging ice from Jack, but not exactly throwing much back at him.

In his distraction, Bunny was able to blind him with those egg grenades followed by being smacked by one of Sandy's whips. The boogeyman stumbled and barely dodged one of North's blades coming at his head. Deciding that he wasn't going to leave this fight to chance, Pitch summoned a mass amount of his nightmares to surround the Guardians on the platform.

"Well this ain't good mate," Bunny muttered looking around.

"Looks like your _friends_ could use some help," Ember called out to her pursuers. "Then again, what would you know about friends?" She turned to face Jack as she flew backwards. "How can they be friends with a murderer like you?"

Jack and Ember smashed into each other with an angered yell. Tooth just watched in confusion as the two spirits toppled together. She moved to help Jack when they split apart with a wave of fire and ice. Tooth watched in confusion as Jack stumbled a bit in the air and almost fell.

"It wasn't my fault," Jack called over to Ember, but she just shrugged.

"It wasn't entirely your fault," she said in return. "We can share the blame." She sent an arrow at his chest, but he moved to deflect it with his staff only to have the cold air surrounding it to be dispelled with the arrow. Ember saw his shock, so she immediately shot another one this time catching him in the shoulder. "Having some issues staying cool over there?"

Jack scolded himself and tried to push the guilt away. It was distracting him, and this was easily the worst time to be distracted against a murderous spirit. He cringed at the word choice in his head, and he had barely enough time to move away from another arrow. He had to get on the offensive, or he'd be burned alive. Another arrow came at him, but when he went to dodge, she had obviously compensated as an arrow was coming right at him from his path. His brain didn't process this quick enough; he was going to get hit, but Tooth suddenly appeared and took the hit.

"No!" Jack cried catching her before she plummeted from the air. Ember had obviously put more power behind the shot thinking she had him.

The Guardians on the ground looked up in time to see the arrow pierce Tooth in the stomach. All of their eyes went wide at the sight while Pitch just started to cackle. Obviously he was wrong about what side she was on as no way if she was on theirs would she so foolishly risk their own. The sight just made him giddy with excitement.

"You're just dropping like flies," he said looking at North. The Santa Claus was staring up at Jack who was working to get Tooth onto a platform without being skewered by Ember in the meantime.

"You won't win Pitch!" Bunny growled. "We beat you last time, we will again."

"And yet, look around you!" he said spinning in a circle to motion to all of the nightmares. "Children seem to believe in fear more than you."

Ember landed next to Pitch looking back to her normal self; she had an aura of confidence and anger. She leaned in towards the boogeyman, "the damage is done. So unless you want to kill them now, I'm sure they're powers will be completely diminished by tomorrow night."

"Perfect," Pitch grinned. "Another time Guardians!" With that, he jumped onto one of his nightmares with only Ember lingering for a moment behind.

"I hope you're happy with yourself Jack," she hissed. "You've just become responsible for another death." She watched Jack's eyes open wide in terror at the concept that she was going to kill Jamie; she floated up and tried not to laugh at the weak attempt of ice thrown at her. His emotions were just as tangled with his powers as hers were. "See you around snow cone!"

"No," Jack whispered. Tooth looked up at him from her position sitting against a column.

"Jack," Bunny said approaching the young spirit and squeezing his shoulder. "What did she mean bya another death?"

"She told me how she died," he responded unable to look the Guardians in the eye. "She told me about the fire that broke out in her apartment and how my snowstorm, my anger…" He choked on the words.

"Apartment?" North said. "Thought it vas a warehouse?"

Jack looked up at the other Guardians in confusion.

"We watched the memories in the teeth I was able to save," Tooth panted; he moved closer to put pressure on the wound. "We saw how she died."

"She told me," he mumbled collapsing next to the Guardian of memories. "My storm kept her from getting help. She had to die on the sidewalk watching the fire tear apart her home while no one was able to help…"

"Jack," Bunny said shaking his head.

"What?" he asked, looking up at all his friends in confusion.

"Ember didn't die on a sidewalk," Tooth said. "She died in a hospital on a ventilator… after saving her sister from a warehouse fire their Father started."

**Chapter 17:** Ember visits Jamie in the spot she stashed him; they get to have a conversation about belief. Pitch plans his final attack, and Jack tries to figure out why Ember would tell him one thing when something else entirely happened… perhaps the answer lies in teeth, just a different set.

**OOC:** So I hope you guys loved this chapter. I'm sure you're all like 'what's going on?' and if you noticed the contradiction in the previous chapter that was pointing to the end of this chapter, thumbs up to you. I'm not sure if I'll get the next chapter up tonight until really late or tomorrow sometime. Either or send some love


	17. Truth

**Chapter 17**

"No," Jack repeated. "No, she told me her sister was dead. She told me that my storm made it impossible for her sister to be saved." He was shaking his head not sure what to believe now. "The way she acted there was no way she was lying." He thought of her hands around his neck, how she had almost killed him right there for what he… well, apparently, what she thought he did.

Bunny sat next to the winter spirit and helped stop Tooth's bleeding, but he answered, "We saw the memories in the teeth. Can't lie about that either." The two Guardians just looked at each other, and Bunny could see the time with Pitch, albeit short, had an effect on the younger spirit. There were dark rings under his eyes, and he looked barely able to stand. Bunny wished there was something he could do for the winter spirit, but right now, Pitch and Ember were the bigger issues.

"Where… where are the memories?" Jack asked. "I need to see them." He stood rather abruptly glancing around as if he was a caged animal again. "Better yet, what are the chances her sister's memories are here?"

"Jack," North said moving to touch the spirit, but he pulled away. Sandy looked at each Guardian, worry evident in his gaze. The winter spirit was usually all over the place, but this wasn't the winter spirit they were used to. He was more frazzled than anything, and the Guardians could see before their eyes that the young Guardian they thought of as family was shattering apart.

"No," he repeated. "She told me I was responsible. She made me believe that I helped to kill her sister and turn her into that… that _thing_." He took to the air to look through one of the few columns of teeth still standing. He was praying that Melanie's teeth were there; he needed to see the truth. More so, he needed to understand why Ember would say all of those things. To torture him? To make him want to die? It seemed plausible, but her anger, her hatred was so real.

"This ain't good," Bunny said while Jack hunted through the teeth. "He doesn't look good."

"No," North agreed. "But what do we do?" He shrugged knowing there wasn't much they could do for the younger spirit; the fact the Ember had told him it was his fault bugged the Guardian of wonder. It was obviously hurting the winter spirit, but he wasn't sure how to fix this. They could show Jack the memories, but at this point, North wasn't sure if he'd believe seeing it. Ember had done a good job instilling that small sliver of guilt into the spirit.

"Jack!" Tooth called. "I know all my teeth, I'm pretty sure Melanie Lane's were destroyed." She searched herself for Amber's two teeth and held them up. "I still have hers if you want."

"I need," Jack said coming down. "I need to see the truth. I need to see that Melanie didn't die in that fire." He looked at the Russian Guardian, eyes broken, and spirit slowly being crushed by guilt. "Please… I need to know I didn't do it."

North pursed his lips and sighed. "I can find her if she still alive." Jack looked at the Guardian hopeful while he seemed to be thinking hard.

"How can he..?" Jack whispered to Bunny.

"That whole he sees you when you're sleeping," Bunny replied. "Yeah that's not a joke."

"Officially creeped out," the younger Guardian said nodding his head trying not to think about all the things the other Guardian might see if he wasn't careful.

"There is a Melanie Schmidt nee Lane living in a Hartland, Michigan," North finally said looking at Jack. "We won't have much time before Pitch strikes again."

"I won't be long," Jack said lifting his feet from the ground. He thought about Jamie and how he needed to find him, so he quickly told the others about Jamie's kidnapping. He would deal with it himself, but he had a feeling that was what Ember wanted. North told him not to worry, and that they would take care of it.

"Jack what are you going to do?" Tooth asked. "It's not like she can tell you her story. She is in her thirties, she won't be able to see you."

"I just need to at least go," he responded. "I'll meet you guys as soon as I can."

"Be careful frostbite," Bunny said.

Sandy gave Jack thumbs up and a small frown. Even he was worried about the white haired spirit. He seemed more frantic than usual, but the Guardians understood the panic. Ember had told him that she blamed him for her sister, for the storm, for all of it, and he had been with Pitch for a few days. That was more than enough time for doubt to be placed. Hopefully, he would find what he needed to get back into the fight in full as all the Guardians knew Pitch was far from down.

…

Ember flew gracefully to Hawaii which was one of the few spots on this Earth she didn't mind so much. She was always one for the equator, but it wasn't always as gorgeous as a few of the forests and beaches she had had while wandering on the island. She had even found an abandoned shack once, and that was where she stashed Jamie with food and water. She didn't want the teen to die from exposure.

She landed gracefully on the beach, her toes digging into the sand. Her eyes gazed out over the ocean as her thoughts drifted back to the fight. She knew she hadn't been at the top of her game, but she really hadn't expect Jack to just show up. That and Sandy had her off her top form, but she knew by the next fight, Pitch would expect her to be back. The next fight she knew would be the last. The Guardians were almost powerless insects, and he was just savoring the moment. As it was, she probably shouldn't have stopped here, but she wanted to check on the teen.

Was Ember willing to crush Jack every way possible for what had happened to her sister? Easily. She wanted the winter spirit to fall to his knees and pray that it would all be over. He needed to suffer for his part in her sister's death. That did not mean she was willing to kill some teenager as annoying as he was. She just planned on keeping the kid here until the fighting was over then she'd take him home, and she could return to her spot at the equator. All of this fighting reminded her how much more time she needed in isolation for what happened to her sister.

Wandering up to the small beach house, she saw that Jamie was sitting on the couch, staring at the ceiling. She did, however, forget that teens could get bored quite easily. Stepping inside, she waved at Jamie who immediately sat up and stared at the fire spirit.

"Sorry about that," she shrugged shutting the door behind her. "Didn't mean to startle you."

"Can I go home?" he asked. "My parents have to be freaking out."

"Probably," she said taking a seat near the teenager, but purposely kept enough space. She didn't want to overheat him. "But better for them to be worried about a teen running off than them freaking out from you in a coma."

"Could he do that?" Jamie asked, his eyes wide in panic.

"No idea," Ember chuckled. "But I wouldn't put it past him." The two fell into silence, and both seemed unsure of what to talk about.

"So how'd you become a spirit?" he questioned.

"Let's not talk about that," she said through gritted teeth. They fell back into an awkward stillness. Finally, Ember asked, "Why do you believe in the Guardians?"

It was an odd question to say the least, but she was genuinely curious about the answer. Growing up in her household, she learned quickly that there couldn't be anything special out there like Santa. If there was, you'd think they would have saved her. However, she never took that belief from her sister; she remembered Melanie's smile every time she read about the Easter Bunny. It was bright, and it made everyone else want to join in.

"Because," Jamie said as if that was the answer to everything. Ember cocked an eyebrow at him. "Well they saved me when I was a kid, and I can't forget them. They've given me hope, dreams, wonder, and all the fun a kid deserves."

"Deserves?"

"You're only a kid once," Jamie laughed. "We deserve to have an amazing life that's filled with things adults never will see again. Every day when I think of what the Guardians have done for me, I smile. I know that this world is safe from things that would make it a frightful place."

"Like Pitch?" To which, Jamie nodded. "But he only gives you bad dreams. That's not as bad as it could be."

"No probably not," he admitted. "Doesn't make it right to do that. Kids are innocent and we love life. It's simple as a kid, there is nothing life or death until you get older and get a driver's license."

Ember rolled her eyes, but she didn't get the chance to say anything when she was hit behind by dream sand. She didn't have much time to think before she slunk out of the chair and fell asleep. Jamie jumped up, shocked to see the Guardians standing in the doorway minus Jack. Sandy was looking rather proud of his shot.

"We better tie 'er up this time mate," Bunny said to which Tooth held up wire.

"Got it from braces," she giggled fluttering over to the dreaming Ember. "Metal should take her longer to melt than any rope."

"What are you guys doing here?" Jamie asked.

"Rescuing you of course," Bunny replied, and the teen just looked more confused.

"From what?" he laughed. "She hid me here away from Pitch. I haven't had a single bad dream since I came here."

The Guardians all exchanged a glance before North stepped forward. "We should get you home."

"And what about her?" he asked gesturing to Ember.

"Don't worry," North continued, and while Jamie wanted to question it further, he just nodded. He walked over to the sleigh which still looked like crap. He gave the Santa a look. "It safe."

"It looks like its ready to fall apart," he argued noticing one of the doors was hanging on by one nail. "Yep gonna die." With that, he jumped in while Bunny tapped open a hole.

"I'm taking my way back," he explained tossing Ember over his shoulder. "See you there."

…

Jack sat in a tree staring out into the yard. He hadn't seen much activity yet, but he had seen a bus arrive a few minutes ago. It was a school bus, and it had dropped someone off. He strained to see who it was, but they hadn't come around to the backyard.

He fidgeted in the tree waiting for Melanie; he had to see her. If he saw her, then he knew that Ember had lied. That was the only explanation; she must have lied to him to get to him. Yet even in his head, that didn't seem right. The lies she was telling, she obviously believed.

The winter spirit perked up at the sight of a little girl running into the backyard laughing. She was only ten years old with long blonde hair and dazzling green eyes. She was carrying a living rabbit with her, but she was an experienced ten years old. He watched in fascination as she took good care of the bunny, holding it close as she sat on the swing.

"Amber," a voice scolded, and that was when Jack saw her. Stepping outside was a woman in a black v-neck and blue jeans. She had a round face and long wavy brown hair, but that wasn't what caught his attention. It was the burn on her face that trailed from the middle of her cheek down to her neck. "What did I tell you about taking the bunny outside?"

Jack's mind immediately clicked- _Melanie_. She was alive… but what did this all mean. He continued to watch the exchange as the young girl groaned and started to say, "Mom."

A smile lit up on his face as the Mom retrieved the bunny and patted the young girl on her head. "You can play with him inside."

"Oh fine," the young girl huffed before heading back towards the house.

"She has a daughter too," Jack said more to himself, but he realized he had said it too loud when he heard the girl gasp. He looked up to see Amber just staring at him with wide eyes.

"Jack Frost," the little girl said with a smile. "You're Jack Frost!" She started to jump up and down in excitement.

"What was that honey?" Melanie called from in the house.

"Mom! Mom!" Amber squealed running up the back door. "Jack Frost is here!"

**Chapter 18:** Ember wakes to find herself captured… but maybe that's what she had intended all along. She plays as the boogeyman's watch out from the inside while Pitch rallies his nightmares for the final confrontation… and Jack is left trying to figure out the whole story behind Melanie and Ember.

**OOC:** So this story is coming to a close. As I said- 20 chapters give or take. I hope you guys are ready for the final fight and the finale. I admit it took me a long while to figure out what to do with Ember in terms of an end: happy, neutral, dark. I sat and mulled over it for the last few days, and I think I thought of one I like.


	18. Belief

**Chapter 18**

Jack sat there staring at the little girl. None of this made sense; Ember said her sister had died in the fire. Yet the Guardians had told him that she had died saving Melanie not in an apartment fire but in a warehouse fire… and here was the proof. He just wished he could talk to her, even for a moment. He just wanted the whole story.

Not able to help himself, he hopped down from the tree he had been in and walked up to the little girl named Amber. He gave her a grin and created a snowflake in his hand before blowing it onto her nose. She giggled in delight, and the sight made Jack remember why he loved being a Guardian especially the Guardian of fun.

"Honey," Melanie said stepping outside to see her daughter smiling up a storm. "Oh you look so adorable." She bent down and gave the little girl a hug.

"It's Jack Frost," the little girl said to which Melanie chuckled and nodded her head as if to say 'of course it is.'. "No Mom, he's really he. He's right next to me."

Jack knew what he had to do to know the truth. He focused and brought down a chilly breeze, but Melanie only rubbed her arms and turned to her daughter. "Looks like we have a storm coming. You should come inside, and we can play dolls, okay sweetie?"

Amber moved to follow waving excitedly at Jack, but if she left, he would never get this chance again. "Amber," Jack said bringing the girl's attention back to him. "I really need to speak to your mom."

"Mom," the girl said yanking on her mom's sleeve. "Jack says he needs to talk to you."

She laughed before asking, "What about then?"

Amber looked to Jack. "Tell her she can't see me because she doesn't believe." Which the ten year old relayed perfectly. Melanie only cocked her eyebrow in response. "Tell her I need to talk about her older sister, Amber."

"But my name is Amber silly duck," she giggled, and that was when Melanie started to actually pay attention. Jack pursed his lips and nodded towards the older woman. "Fine. Mom he says he needs to talk to you about your older sister Amber… I didn't know you had an older sister!"

"Sweetie, who told you about that?" Melanie asked grabbing the little girl's arm. "I need you to stop playing around and tell me how you found out I had an older sister."

Amber looked back at Jack, and he continued, "Tell her I need to know what happened that night with the fire. Tell her…" He thought about how to convince the older woman he was actually here, and then he remembered the relationship between Ember and Pitch. He remembered in Ember's story, the young Melanie was afraid of the monster under the bed. He decided to try it. "Tell her I know about the monster under the bed. The man in black with gray skin…"

"You've seen him too?" Amber asked, her eyes wide in terror. When Jack explained he was here to stop the boogeyman, Amber quickly told everything she had heard from Jack to her Mom. Melanie looked ready to faint; this wasn't possible in her mind. She had buried that past years ago, and somehow, her young daughter knew about it all.

"Amber who's telling you this?" she asked.

"Jack Frost," the young girl replied. "He's right there!" She pointed to the spot next to her Mom, and that was when Jack chose to focus his powers and make a small snow bunny as he had done with Jamie years before. He watched as she gasped and just watched the small creation float around before melting in the air.

"That isn't…" she faded off as she stared right at Jack. "Oh my god…" She looked ready to faint.

"Can you see me?" Jack asked, and he had a moment of déjà vu as Melanie nodded slowly. "I really need to talk to you about your sister. And the boogeyman."

"Umm yeah… okay," she replied as she really didn't know what to say in response to a magical creature suddenly being real, but then again, she remembered the monster under the bed vividly. Even as the years passed, she couldn't get the face of that monster out of her head- yellow eyes, gray skin, and razor teeth. It was only when her older sister started to sing to her at night and rock her to sleep that the boogeyman started to become nothing more than fantasy.

…

Ember slowly came too and tried not to be too obvious in her waking. She kept her head on the floor and tested her bonds slowly discovering they were metal. Heating them up wouldn't do much good unless she could get them to a melting point. Cracking open an eye, she took in her surroundings to see herself near the Bugress frozen pond. She figured the Guardians came here to drop off Jamie.

She didn't hear or see anyone in the immediate vicinity, so she tried harder to get her hands free. Not that it would matter; she figured the Guardians would hunt down Jamie the moment they realized he had been kidnapped. It was why in truth she had gone to see the kid; she was setting herself up. Pitch might not like this change in plans, but somebody had to be on the inside now that Sandy was back. She could easily take whatever they did to her, and she didn't have the army behind her.

"Don't even think about it," Bunny said stepping in front of Ember. She glared up at the rabbit and tried to curse him out before suddenly realizing she was gagged. It didn't seem possible to be any more furious, but they were doing a good job. She wanted nothing more to set the entire area on fire, but her bow was being held in the Easter Bunny's paw. "You'll be staying as our guest."

"Mmmmph," Ember growled against the gag pulling against the restraints behind her back.

"Oh she awake?" Tooth asked, but the fire spirit couldn't see this Guardian. Her entire body was tense; she didn't like not being able to see the enemy. "Perhaps Sandy should knock her back out."

Sandy stepped up smiling at her, and she tried to inch backwards. Asleep, she couldn't find anything out. She shook her head trying to bargain with the morons; she didn't like to sleep especially not lately. She just kept dreaming of the fire that claimed her sister.

…

"I must say this is a tad strange," Melanie said from the couch looking at the winter spirit with suspicious eyes. Amber was playing with dog plushies on the floor near the bunny cage. "So you things are all real," she whispered not wanting her daughter to have Santa Claus ruined too early.

"Yeah," Jack shrugged. "You actually believed in all of us… besides me… as a kid. It's just as you get older, you forget the magic you see, so you tend to stop believing."

"I assure you there wasn't a whole lot of magic growing up," she sighed running a weary hand through her locks. "Now what about my sister?"

"Umm," Jack said pointing to the kid. "Probably not a conversation for her?"

Melanie nodded before asking Amber to go upstairs and clean her room to which the girl groaned but complied. The woman reached over to the counter to grab her cup of coffee; she took a large sip never taking her eyes off the winter spirit.

"So you're sister…" Jack started but stopped. How was he supposed to tell this girl that her sister was a monster? "Sometimes when someone dies, they're brought back like me," he said.

"And my sister…"

"And your sister is one of us per say," he explained. "I'm a Guardian. I protect kids from things like the boogeyman." He watched her eyes narrow at the mention of Pitch. "She's more of a spirit of summer that is quite angry… with me."

"Why is she angry with you?" Melanie asked leaning forward on her seat.

"She says… she says I helped kill you," he continued. "She says a fire at your apartment killed you, her, and your mom…"

"If what you say is true that my sister is still alive," Melanie sighed. "Then she is very confused because that is not what happened that night."

"Could you please tell me?" he asked hanging his head. "I need to know the truth, and I know it isn't easy for you to tell."

"Will knowing help her?" she asked.

"She's working with the boogeyman right now, convinced you're dead. I think this could change everything."

Melanie nodded and took a deep breath.

"_I've got to go to work Mom," Amber said pulling on the short black skirt and tying up her halter top. "We need the money."_

_ "I know honey," she sighed. "I just wish you didn't work there."_

_ "Tips are good," the elder sister shrugged. "And no one will ever recognize me in a club like that." With that, she moved over to Melanie who was sitting on the floor playing with a toy."Be good."_

_ "What if the boogeyman comes while you're gone?" the younger sister asked innocently enough._

_ "Just remember he can't get by me," Amber said with a wink. "I'll fight him off with my bare hands if I must." Melanie giggled at the sight of her older sister gesturing wildly. "I'll see you guys in a few hours."_

_ Melanie nodded happily and continued to brushing her doll's hair. Her sister was her hero; she protected her from the man with yellow eyes, and she protected her from Daddy. She knew Daddy was just sick and needed help. That was why Amber said they left for here- to let Daddy get the help he needed._

_ Mom tucked her in that night, and she stared worriedly at the closet… but she remembered Amber's words and fell asleep very quickly. It was only later when she felt the bed shift did she open her eyes. She, at first, thought it was the boogeyman, but then she saw it was Daddy._

_ "Daddy," Melanie cried happily. "You've come home because you're all better now right? Amber said you'd come home when you were better."_

_ "That's right precious," he murmured running the back of his hand down her cheek. "We need to get out of here for a bit, okay?"_

_ "But Amber said…"_

_ "Quiet!" he growled. "I am your Father not Amber." He seemingly took a breath. "You will be coming with me okay?"_

_ "All right Dad," Melanie said jumping out of bed and getting on her shoes._

_ Her Father picked her up and carried her from her room. She barely got a look at Mom who looked like she was passed out on the kitchen counter. She waved at her Mom as Dad carried her down the stairs quickly. They reached his car, and he worked swiftly to strap her in._

_ Just as he finished, she heard Amber scream her name. She spun to see her sister coming from the apartment still dressed for work carrying her bow. She could hear her sister screaming at Dad to stop, but he just went faster. Once she was secure, he jumped into the driver's seat and went. Melanie glanced out the back window to see Amber following on her small motorized bike. _

_ He kept driving until the car made funny noises, and he had to pull off. Not seeing much choice, he unbuckled Melanie, got out of the car, and picked her up from the passenger side. He bolted for the closest building trying to ignore the random blizzard outside._

_ "Let her go!" she heard her sister screaming over the wind._

_ Melanie shivered and curled tighter against Dad until they were inside when he suddenly stopped. He set her down, gave her a smile, and then pulled out the whiskey that had been in his pocket. The moment Amber ran through the doors he splashed it on her face. She cried out at the sudden intrusion in her eyes. _

_ Melanie watched the two struggle hidden in a corner nearby. She could only watch in horror as he kicked Amber down and pulled out a lighter. She watched her sister's eyes go wide before he threw it to the ground. Amber felt the alcohol on her immediately catch, and she screamed out in agony. Sadly, the warehouse had oil laying around and other flammables which caught quick with the older sister peeling off her jacket in an attempt to put out the fire eating her alive. _

_ Amber rolled around until the fire finally died out, and she laid panting on the ground. Melanie yelled for her Dad to stop as he moved to kick her older sister. She ran out to try and protect her sister throwing herself over top of the older girl, but Amber wouldn't have it. She rolled, so that she took the brunt of the kick._

_ "If I can't have her, no one will!" her Father screamed grabbing some nearby trash that was on fire and tossed it at the girls. Amber watched in horror as it careened at them like a fireball; she pushed her younger sister back towards the door. The fire caught her thigh as the older sister tried to move, and she just hissed this time stumbling for her bow. _

_ "You can't have her!" the Father screamed coming at Amber again who was now on her back looking half dead from half her face gone. _

_ "Neither can you," she hissed putting an arrow straight through their Father's throat. _

_ Melanie sat curled in a corner just watching all of this trying to ignore the heat of the blaze around them. "Amber?" she cried out softly. Her sister wasn't moving. "Amber!" she tried again, tears rolling down her face. The fire continued to get worse, and when she thought she would be burned alive, her older sister slowly stood and limped over to Melanie._

_ "Come on spitfire," she whispered picking up her little sister. "I'm taking you home." While it was exhausting, Amber walked from the warehouse shaking just as the entire thing went up in flames._

"She carried me all the way to the hospital," Melanie said, her hands in her lap. "She collapsed right outside the door on a patch of ice." Tears were rolling down her face. "She saved me that night. He would have killed me or done worse. The fact she was able to get up after being burned was a miracle the doctor's said."

"How long did she… did she live after that?" Jack asked horrified more by this story than Ember's previous one. Something about this story tugged at his heart.

"Three days," Melanie said. "She was on a ventilator for three days… Social services kept trying to collect me, but I wouldn't leave her side. She was my hero, I wasn't going to leave her to die alone." Melanie took a deep breath. "On the third night when the doctors said she wasn't going to make it through the night, she had them remove the tube helping her breath and she spoke with me…" Full rivers ran down from her eyes at this. "She told me I'd go to a good family, and that I had to live my life for both of us now. She said I had such passion in my life that I couldn't allow something like this to slow me down. I asked her about the boogeyman after that, can you believe me?" She choked out a laugh. "Amber told me that no matter what happened, she would still be there to fight off the boogeyman because what kind of big sister would she be if she didn't…" She licked her lips. "She died an hour later in her sleep."

Jack lowered his head respectfully. "I just have one more question if you don't mind…" He watched as she nodded closing her eyes in anticipation. "Why do you think she remembers differently? She thinks you all died in the apartment."

"During those three days, Jack, she was barely conscious," she explained. "And all those times she wasn't awake, she was having nightmares. So many times a doctor had to explain to her that I was right there, and that she was in the hospital. It was horrible."

The winter spirit had heard enough; he stood and thanked Melanie for her time. "I need to go back and try to stop her. She's trying to help Pitch."

"Pitch?" Melanie asked.

"The boogeyman," he sighed. "Creepy guy, gray skin, yellow eyes."

"The monster under my bed," she muttered more to herself than anyone else. "You're saying this guy is using my sister?"

"Yes as firepower," he said trying to avoid finding humor in his word choice.

"Then I'm coming with you," she said. Jack stared at her, and she continued, "my sister thinks I'm dead and blames you right?" To which, Jack nodded. "Then she needs to see me, she needs to remember."

"You won't be able to see her."

"If I remember right, I need to believe to see her right?" she asked, and Jack gave her a brisk nod wondering where this was going. "Well, no offense, my sister is the one thing I'll always believe in. Now take me to her."

**Chapter 19:** Ember and Pitch launch their final attack against the Guardians in Bugress. They seemingly have won until Jack brings in the secret weapon… Will everything change?

**OOC:** I wasn't planning on posting this until tomorrow, but you guys apparently really wanted it. So viola. However, this will be the last one until tomorrow night probably (school is fun like that). Let me know what you thought of the twist (I have been planning this since chapter 1)


	19. Fear

**Chapter 19**

Ember struggled with her bonds feeling the metal dig in; trickles of blood seeped from the wounds she had caused herself. At least, they hadn't knocked her back out; North had reappeared at the perfect time and decided she was more use awake. They thought she would tell them Pitch's plan, and she scoffed at that idea. Like she knew much of it anyway; he told her where to go, when to attack… that was the extent of planning; everything else, she had figured out on her own or improvised.

Right now, the Guardians were still outside of Bugress near Jack's frozen lake. The fire spirit glanced over her shoulder at the ice, and it was starting to annoy her. It was the middle of August, hot and humid. She thought the lake should be just water no frozen anything anywhere. It was tempting to scoot over and try to melt it, but she thought better of it. Ember knew it was just her summer spirit side telling her these things, and it was the last thing she needed to do with four Guardians just looking for a reason to knock her out. Bunny was obviously overjoyed with seeing her like this just by the way he kept smirking at her.

"When do you think Jack will be back?" Tooth asked standing with the others in a circle. Ember's ears perked up with that question, and she looked up at them from her laying state.

"Soon I sure of it," North said. "He be back before Pitch attacks again."

This made Ember wonder where the winter spirit went in the first place; she didn't think it seemed like him to just ditch the Guardians especially when the likes of Jamie were involved. She had just figured they were keeping him away from her after all she did to him… and what she'd like to do to him again. Even without her bow, her anger caused the air temperature to shift a few degrees higher.

"Doesn't matter which one it is," Bunny complained. "Jack makes it too cold, this one makes it too hot." He threw his paws up in the air in frustration, glaring at her in the process. Behind her gag, she grinned in response.

"Sandy remove the gag," North said. "It about time we ask her what she knows."

Ember narrowed her gaze as the golden spirit walked over to her barely even looking at her. She was half tempted to try and bite him when he removed the gag, but she decided behaving was the better option for the moment. She clenched her teeth and licked her lips thoroughly once the golden sand was removed. Ugh, she'd be tasting grit for a week because of this. The Guardians stood around her.

"Do I have to look like a dead dog while we do this?" she hissed. "Can I at least sit up?"

The Guardians shared a glanced. "Come on," she continued. "You have me trussed up here." To showcase her point, she wiggled her feet which were tied together at the ankle and her hands still restrained behind her back. With a sigh, Bunny bent down and sat her right up; Ember gave him a smile. "Thank you fluff ball."

"What's Pitch planning?" the rabbit asked the moment he was back to standing up right.

"Blunt aren't ya?" she teased, but when the Guardians glowered at her, she sighed. "You already know his plans. Destroy you and what you stand for, blah blah blah."

"You've already destroyed our homes," Tooth said. "What more can you destroy?"

"You and I both know," Ember interrupted, "that your homes are fixable. You might have ash lying around for a few weeks, but that's one sad thing about fire, you can always rebuild. It's not permanent."

Sandy flashed a few images above his head, and Ember cocked an eyebrow. She wondered if the rest of the Guardians were getting this because she wasn't. The fire spirit could only hope whatever it was that he was going on about wasn't too horribly important because there was no way she was going to learn to speak sand castle.

North stroked his beard in thought before nodding at Sandy. "I agree," he said. "Pitch is planning one last strike."

"To what?" Bunny asked.

"Attack you while you're weak," Ember said seeing not point in lying. It was going to happen no matter what, and it wasn't like they could exactly prepare. With their homes gone, their powers were weak, and all the boogeyman needed to do was wait until they were at their lowest and finish this. And that would be another reason why Ember chose to just be captured; instead of throwing nightmares against them to see their strength, the fire spirit figured she could read their energy levels. Just looking at them now, she knew the time to attack was soon.

North was hunched over, Tooth was barely flying, and the rabbit looked smaller than usual. She knew the Guardians weren't going to stand a chance next time the king of fear attacked. And he knew right where to find them now that she was here. Pitch could easily track her to wherever they hid.

Even now as she glanced into the shadows, she saw a nightmare staring at her, and she smiled and gave it a short nod. She couldn't very well shout 'attack now!', but she figured Pitch would get the message. Now all she had to do was sit back and wait… and find a way to get her hands back on her bow. Focusing on her restraints behind her back, she decided to screw it and just heat them up as hot as possible; it wasn't like she could get burned.

"We should probably find a place to hunker down then mate," Bunny said, and the Guardians launched into a conversation of where they could go while trying to decide their next step. Ember kept her growling as quiet as possible while working with the restraints again; she knew that heating them should make them increase in size. Already, the ties were half way down her hands.

"Look at you all," Pitch said separating himself from the shadows. "Running like scared children."

"Pitch," North growled, and the Guardians assembled to face the nightmare king… which put Ember in a good position behind them. She tried not to chuckle at already being forgotten.

"How'd you find us already?" Tooth asked, and the fire spirit tried not to groan when he motioned to her.

"She's quite the little devil isn't she," Pitch said, his eyes focusing on the spirit.

"And she's also a little tied up at the moment," Bunny gloated, but he didn't get too far into his grin when he felt arms go around his neck.

"Was tied up is the key word," she hissed into the rabbit's ear before kicking out his knee. With that, she used his hunched over back to roll over him and get in front of the Guardians. "Now I'd like my bow back." She jumped back to avoid the sand whip. "If I say please, would that help?" She dodged to the right to avoid the boomerang this time. "Force it is."

Pitch sent his nightmares at the Guardians who tried to stay together to deal with the numerous dark sand creatures all the while trying to avoid Ember. She was fighting to get her bow back which was slung over North's shoulder this time; Bunny had given it to him when the Russian had returned from Jamie's. She reached for it only to get slashed across the arm.

"That hurt," she said clutching her bleeding limp. The fire spirit shot a look back at Pitch who seemed to understand. Black sand appeared from underneath the Guardian of wonder and restrained him while he shouted and fought. With a barely suppressed grin, the fire spirit stepped up to North and removed her bow while he continued to try and get away from the sand.

"North!" Tooth shouted attempting to come to his aid, but she was still having issues flying. Ember was easily able to retrieve her bow before the other Guardian even got close.

With that, she returned to Pitch's side and notched an arrow. Afterwards though, she waited with the flaming string rest next to her burnt cheek. She wanted the order to finish this; when the nightmare king got done playing with his toys, he would tell her to take them out one by one. This was the end of the Guardians. She watched idly as the nightmares began to overwhelm the Guardians until they were forced to stand back to back with the creatures all around them.

That was when Pitch chose to walk toward the weakened protectors, but Ember stayed back with her arrow aimed. He stepped next to his main nightmare and patted the thing on its neck before addressing the Guardians. He paused momentarily as he pointed at each one. "We're missing one. Ember?"

"Jack wasn't here when I woke up," she answered. "He turned tail."

The nightmare king smiled at that, but Tooth yelled back at the fire spirit. "No he didn't! He went to go see…" She didn't get much farther as black sand enclosed over her mouth.

"That's enough out of you," he said wagging his finger in her face. He was enjoying this moment. "I think each of you will make an excellent fearling…"

"You won't win," Bunny said even though the situation was screaming Pitch 2, Guardians 0.

"Who will stop me?" Pitch laughed. "You pathetic things. Or Jack? Who I don't see. You left him alone for 300 years, what can you expect in return?" He enjoyed the look of guilt on each of their faces; it was true the Guardians hadn't paid any mind to the winter spirit until he was one of them.

A snowball smashed into the side of Pitch's face. "You can expect that I'll show up to help protect the kids and my family!" Pitch glanced to his right to see Jack standing there with an older woman. His eyes went wide at the sight of the girl, but she just looked confused.

"You brought a human?" Ember laughed. "Were you hoping to use her as a shield?"

"Amber?" the woman asked, and this snapped the fire spirit's attention in Jack's direction. The winter took a few steps back to allow the reunion. "Is that really you?" It took some focusing, but she was able to see her elder sister come into existence. Melanie tried not to gasp at the sight of the bow being trained on something which she couldn't see. She could however see the boogeyman; ever since she was a kid, she knew him to be real… She tried not to focus on the monster but on her sister. "You look just like I remember you."

"Who are you?" Ember hissed switching the direction of her arrow in Jack's direction, but Melanie held up her hands harmlessly.

"It's me sis," she said as she tried to hold back the tears. "It's Mel."

"No!" Ember growled. "This is a trick. I never expected you to stoop so low Jack."

"Yes because I can convince some random adult to impersonate your sister," he muttered, but Ember seemingly heard him and looked even more enraged if that was possible.

"No it isn't Amber," Melanie said trying to draw the attention back to her. She recognized the look on her sister's face; after all, she had seen it numerous times on her Father's face as a kid. "It's really me. I'm here and alive because of you."

"No you're dead because of him," she growled motioning in the winter spirit's direction. "His storm made it impossible to get help. You burned alive in the apartment while I could do nothing to save you."

"Listen to me," the younger sister said, "you did everything to save me. You saved me every day from Dad. I did not die in an apartment fire. Dad kidnapped me remember?" She watched her elder sister's eyes narrow. "He took me from the apartment after stabbing mom in the back. He tried to drive off with me, but you chased him to a warehouse. There was a struggle and he set the entire warehouse on fire."

"I don't…" Ember was staring in confusion; it didn't take a genius to see the resemblance between the two- half sisters or not. "No you died. I heard you screaming."

"You heard me screaming for Dad not to hurt you," she whispered. "I thought he was going to kill us, but you saved me. You… you put an arrow into him." She avoided telling the fire spirit that the blow was fatal. That didn't seem like potent information at the moment. "You carried me to the hospital where you collapsed. You were on a ventilator for three days!"

"Please don't cry," Ember said, her bow falling an inch, in response to her younger sister's red eyes welling up. "I don't like to see you cry."

"That's because you would always wipe the tears away and tell me that there is always a better tomorrow," she said. "You told me that life was full of reasons to live, you just had to have the fire in your heart to push through the bad times."

Ember's eyes narrowed as she took a step back. "No… I saw… I remember… I…" The arrow disappeared as she put a hand to her head. "No… you died…"

"No Amber," Melanie whispered closing the distance inch by inch. "I sat by your side in the hospital for three days. When the doctor's said you… said you weren't going to make it through the night, you had them take you off the ventilator to talk to me one last time." Melanie watched her older sister stare at the ground as if it would sprout the answers. "Do you remember what you told me?"

"That… that you had such passion in your life… that you couldn't let this slow you down. That you'd go to a good family."

"And?"

"And no matter what I'd always protect you because I was your big sister," Ember finished meeting her younger sister's gaze. "I don't understand, why… why can't I remember this well?"

Melanie took a deep breath before saying, "You had nightmares the entire stay in the hospital. You thought I was dead each time you woke… and you fell asleep right before you passed."

"Jack..?"

"Did not cause any of this," she said. "I'm alive sister because of you. You're my hero."

This seemed to sink in as Ember stared at Jack for a moment before rage seemed to take back over. She raised her bow and notched an arrow; Melanie gasped and took a step back as a nightmare charged her. There was no hesitation as the fire spirit took out the dark sand creature. She re-aimed at Pitch who was glaring at her.

"Nightmares huh?" Ember growled. "I seemingly remember you were always afraid of the monster under your bed." She let the arrow go and it nicked Pitch's shoulder which got his full attention. He was glaring at the fire spirit. "I think you need to answer some questions."

"I owe you nothing," he growled, and the nightmares started to surround the fire spirit, but she wasn't having any of it. She fired two arrows at his feet.

"Let me make this perfectly clear," she snarled. "You will answer my questions. It's a game. You tell the truth and I don't put an arrow into your heart." A brilliantly red arrow was sitting on the bow string aimed right for the Nightmare king.

Jack shot a glance over at the Guardians who gave him a nod. This turn of events was unexpected but relieved them to no end. The truth was out, and even Bunny would admit that he was happy that the fire spirit wasn't being manipulated anymore.

"Why?" she cried. "I was dying! Why do that to me?"

Pitch sighed, "It's simple really." He clasped his hands behind his back and moved towards the fire spirit. "You kept me from terrorizing a child."

"My sister?"

"Yes. So you see I was very weak thirty years ago. I didn't have enough strength to go against these fools behind me. I needed to test my dark nightmare sand, and your sister provided the perfect opportunity. Everything scared her."

"Everything scared her because our lives were pure nightmares!" she growled tightening her grip on the bow.

"Even so," he shrugged. "You made her terrors go away like the good big sister you were." He sneered at the shaking fire spirit- from anger or memories, he wasn't sure. "And I saw a chance to get back at you for it all when you were in that hospital bed. What better nightmare than to see your sister die over and over… and for you to know it was _all your fault_."

"But what about Jack?" she asked seriously confused. "How did you know that he would be a guardian and that I'd be a weapon against him?"

"I didn't!" he chuckled. "When I turned your precious dreams into nightmares, I had no idea that my old friend," he said gesturing to the moon, "would bring you back. The whole Jack Frost thing was an accident and coincidence. He just happened to have made the storm that night , and your own mind made it the reason you couldn't save her." The king of fear was smiling. "I admit, how perfect it worked out in the end. Jack Frost became a guardian, and the nightmares I gave you convinced you it was all his fault."

Pitch glanced over at the winter spirit to see the glare being thrown in his direction. "If your little sister hadn't shown up and ruined the fun, I'm sure I could have gotten you to kill him just as you killed your father. Perhaps, I should rectify her living situation."

An arrow slammed into Pitch's side, but the arrow was no longer red, it was a brilliant blue. The hottest she could burn, but never had until now. "You will not touch her… Never again. Nor will you use me again!"

"Amber!" Melanie said shocked by the pure rage of her sister.

"What?" the older sister asked shooting the older woman a glance; the younger sister gestured to the boogeyman wide eyed. "Oh he threatened you, and I didn't shoot him in the heart." She found her eyes subconsciously seek out Jack, and she tried not to show all the emotions running through her, most of all being guilt...

Ember didn't waste much time before shooting six or seven arrows into the herd of Nightmares to give the Guardians breathing room. The horses around her attack, but she spun using her bow to whip fire out in a circle. This wasn't her first dance obviously with fear, but she still got slammed from behind from one of the creatures. She stumbled, yet she didn't need to turn and face it as it exploded from ice particles.

Jack and Ember's gazes met, but they didn't say a word. He just jumped into the fray with her, and the two- fire and ice- went back to back. Combined, the opposite powers wreaked havoc against the nightmares. The two spirits worked hard to avoid hurting each other. Instead of fighting the temperature changes, they let their bodies adjust naturally to make it not too cool but not too hot around them.

"Down," Ember said, and Jack ducked as she shot an arrow over his back before pulling the same maneuver she had with Bunny earlier and rolling across his back. She landed and continued to assault the creatures with arrows of blue. As long as they were focused on her, they weren't looking at her little sister.

The other Guardians fought off Pitch who was obviously greatly upset by the fire spirit's change of heart. Sandy kept using massive amounts of his golden sand to try and drown out the fear king's dark sand which was starting to be effective. Still there were so many creatures; for every one they seemed to destroy, another three popped up.

All of them were tiring; Ember had done obviously a too good of job of making sure Pitch had the power he needed to overrun the Guardians. Both Jack and Ember were thrown against a tree, but they refused to make a sound.

"I'll finish what that fire started," Pitch growled coming towards the fire spirit when a little girl came from nowhere.

"No!" the girl cried stepping between the two spirit's and the nightmare king. "You won't hurt them."

"Amber," Jack said, and Ember looked at him strangely to which he pointed to the child. She seemed to get it right away; this was her sister's daughter. Forcing herself to her feet, she got in front of the child as did Jack.

"You think you can stand against me," he snarled.

"We're not afraid of you," Jack said, and to iterate his point, he grabbed Ember's hand. They felt the temperature fluctuate between them, and while Ember looked dissatisfied with this change of events, she still got the cue to attack together. Swinging his staff and swinging her bow, the two allowed their powers to combine in mid-air, fire and ice mixing in raw form, and just as it had done to them, it exploded out to throw Pitch a good twenty feet back right into Sandy's attack. They immediately let go, and Ember frowned at the winter spirit, shaking feeling back into her hand. Jack formed a snowball in his to cool it down.

"Who knew fire and ice went so well together?" Jack joked.

"I think everyone does," the fire spirit said. "It's one of those common sense things."

"Amber!" Melanie said running onto the field to grab her daughter. "Leave her alone you creatures!" The nightmares reared up and had to back away. The elder sister stared in pride as her younger sister showed bravery and didn't allow an ounce of fear to overcome her. Just as Ember had protected Melanie, the younger sister now protected another little girl.

"No!" Pitch growled seeing his creations finally falling back. As a last ditch attempt, he created the image of Ember's Father. He came at the two sisters, but before Ember could step up and dispel the creature, Melanie did.

"I'm not afraid of you anymore," she said, stone faced. "I can't be when I have a big sister always willing to protect me." The image immediately dispelled.

The Guardians, weak and tired, plus Ember advanced on Pitch. She didn't think twice about drawing back an arrow. "I should kill you," she hissed. "After everything you've done, you deserve no less." She shot the arrow, so it landed between the fear king's legs. His eyes went wide. "Say sweet dreams…"

"Ember," Jack said, and she looked over at the Guardians to see them unsure of how to proceed now. They obviously didn't want her to destroy the fear king as that would make her no better than him, but it was her niece's eyes that changed everything. They weren't looking at the fear king afraid but at her. Her words and anger had scared the girl… She dissipated the arrow and stepped away turning her back to the Guardians.

"It's over Pitch," North said.

"You can't kill fear," the king growled. "I'll come back."

"And when you do," Jack said, "we'll be here to stop you."

The Nightmare king found his self being absorbed by the shadows. His powers were fading; the lack of fear from the Guardians and the human were handicapping him. He narrowed his gaze and promised that he'd come back, and next time, he wouldn't stop until the Guardians were dead or fearlings. This was the last time he'd lose. His last sight was Sandy using his own magic to dispel all the nightmares in the town, and with that, Pitch disappeared again.

"Good job Jack," North said.

"Not bad Frostbite," Bunny said patting him on the back.

"I'm just glad you're okay," Tooth said.

Sandy gave the younger spirit thumbs up and a smile. At that, they all turned to see Ember staring at the ground. They weren't sure what to do with her, and it didn't look like she knew what to do with herself.

"Oh Amber," Melanie said with pity. She couldn't help it- to see her sister like this, in pain and angry was heartbreaking.

That seemed to snap Ember from her daze as she turned to face the Guardians. They stared at her in shock as she had her bow pointed on Jack with a red arrow already notched.

"I think we have some unfinished business Frost," she hissed.

**Chapter 20:** Jack and Ember have one last fight to settle everything… but the winter spirit doesn't understand what it's all about. He tries to talk through the anger, but the fire spirit doesn't seem to want to hear it.

**OOC:** Super long chapter in response to the wait you all had. This story might actually finish up in the next chapter. I hope you guys enjoyed the ride. R&R


	20. Phoenix

**Chapter 20**

"Ember," Jack said cautiously holding up his staff defensively but making no move otherwise. "Is hand holding really a death sentence to you?" He couldn't help but joke how they had actually worked together for one moment, and he thought this was all over. However, judging by the look on Ember's face, it wasn't.

"You may not have helped kill my sister," she said glancing towards her younger sibling to see her gripping the younger child. "But we still have a score to settle. You can either defend yourself or die. It doesn't matter to me." She let the arrow loose, and Jack was forced to dodge.

The rest of the Guardians moved to help, but the fire spirit was smart; she focused on the trees over hanging the Guardians and set them aflame with another arrow. They would have to deal with that or risk a wildfire in this heat. None of them looked happy with this development, but the winter spirit gave them a smile and started to circle Ember.

"We don't have to do this," he pleaded. "It's over. Can't we just throw a snowball at each other and call it even?"

"I only throw fireballs," she hissed forming one in her hand and purposely aiming for his head. The winter spirit didn't see much choice; he would have to defend himself or risk serious injury. He sent a wave of ice at her, but she took to the air.

Not seeing much choice, Jack followed close behind. She turned in the air and shot another arrow missing his side by inches. He couldn't help but narrow his gaze; Ember was an amazing shot. Very rarely did she miss completely. Not getting too much time to ponder this, the winter spirit moved again to avoid another fireball. He sent a blast of cold air her way knocking her from the breeze she was on. As she fell, she grabbed Jack's arm. He felt the heat of the flame in his arm, but again, it was nowhere near as bad as it had been in their previous encounters.

"Come on snow cone," she teased. "Is that all you have still? Do I need to go threaten Jamie again to get a real fight out of you?"

Jack tossed her off while swinging his staff; he caught her in the side of the head. He saw the pain flash behind her eyes, but she shook it off and grinned. "There we go. Like that… Now again," she said lining up another arrow, this one still red. The arrow flew at him, but he deflected it with his staff and tried another blast of cold air.

Ember learned though and took off higher missing the air completely. She swung her bow, letting it catch on fire as she did so, and it connected directly with Jack's staff. Ice could be heard crackling, and the winter spirit pushed back against the fire spirit. He was glaring at her, but she was just smiling sadly at him before smirking and kneeing him in the abdomen. He bent over from the pain, and she slammed her bow against his back. He expected to feel the lick of flames, but all he felt was wood. As he tumbled, he saw that Ember had basically turned off the flames from her bow. This didn't make sense; if she was trying to kill him, she shouldn't have done that. This entire fight felt off; if he didn't know better, Jack could swear she wasn't trying… that she was just putting on a good show.

Ember smirked and teased him again though he was far too focused to notice. He glanced down to see the Guardians giving him strange looks, but they were almost done putting out most of the fire. In the glow of night, it was easy to see the flames flickering out. In that moment of distraction, the fire spirit shot another arrow but this one flew by his head. Another miss.

"Please Ember," Jack tried again. "I… I don't blame you for what you did."

This seemed to make her hesitate at another shot, and she floated down more to his level only five feet over. She still had an arrow aimed at his heart. He decided to press his luck. "Pitch manipulated you. You have no reason to fight me like this."

"Please just shut up and attack me," she growled, her knuckles on the bow were white from how hard she was griping it. "Just please."

"Ember," he said again, but this time the arrow nailed his side, and this one hurt. He cried out in pain, and all the Guardians stared to the sky wanting nothing more to help… but if this fire wasn't stopped, it threatened the entire town Bugress.

"Pitch didn't manipulate me," she growled. "It made me hate you sure, but I am filled with hate. All Pitch did was give me a target." She drew another arrow and clipped Jack in the arm. "I hate you." She nailed him in the leg this time. "I hate Pitch." She was getting closer with each shot. "I hate the Guardians." She smacked him across the face with the bow once she was two feet away; Jack was having trouble staying in the air. He didn't have the chance to defend himself. "I hate this life." Her fingers curled into his hoody. "But there is something I hate most of all."

"What's that?" Jack croaked trying to ignore the pain in all his limbs. It was superficial damage, but it still hurt like hell.

"Either fight me or burn," she whispered into his ear ignoring his question. Not having any choice, Jack pushed his staff into her and forced ice into her body. He heard her cry of pain, and he watched her let go of his sweater and start to fall. She didn't let that stop her as she just notched another arrow.

Jack flew down avoiding the arrow, and as they fell together, the staff and bow crossed again. Fire danced off the bow, and ice frosted over the staff. The two met in a stare, and the winter spirit just tried to understand what was going on. He wasn't going to let himself get killed because of her, but he still wanted to know her reasons when it was all over with Pitch.

The two spirits slammed into the ice of Jack's lake; Ember lay on her back and Jack was on top. The bow and staff were still crossed. The winter spirit panted from the exertion, and Ember grinned and let the bow go so his staff slammed basically right across her neck.

"I'm sorry," she said, and that got his attention. He stared at her and watched tears well up in her eyes. "I'm so sorry…" She shut her eyes, and he felt the blast of heat, greater than anything he ever felt before. It was like being on the surface of the sun; he wanted to move away, but she had grabbed his staff keeping him put. Over the pain, he heard her saw one more thing. "Thank you."

The ice was completely obliterated, and he fell into the frigid waters. Jack barely had time to process this as the cool water seemed to help his wounds. All the pain disappeared, and he basically sighed underneath the water. It was then he realized he was alone in the water; he glanced around desperately but Ember was nowhere in sight. Before he had a chance to look, a hand reached down and pulled him from the frigid water.

North held onto the soaked spirit. He smiled grimly at Jack before setting him back on solid ground. All around him were the Guardians, and they each were glad to see him okay. Jack couldn't help but ask if they saw Ember come up… North told him that he felt the heat, looked away, and the next thing he knew he was fishing the winter spirit from the lake. No one had seen her get out of the water.

"She's a fire spirit," he said glancing back at the water. "Could she… could she have survived that?"

"Don't know mate," Bunny answered truthfully.

Sandy showed a picture of her bow with a question mark. That was also nowhere in sight, but the winter spirit was pretty sure it was still on the ice when he went under. It was a safe assumption it sunk and was stuck at the bottom of the lake now.

"I don't get why she did that," he said looking at each Guardian equally.

"What do you mean?" Tooth asked.

"I think she purposely threw the fight," he explained. "It was only when I started to refuse the fight did she move to purposefully hit me. I think she wanted me to pin her to the lake. I don't get why."

"I do," Melanie said stepping away from the water where she had been soaking her hand. They all looked to her even though the younger sibling of the fire spirit could only see Jack. The little girl, Amber, was happily poking at Bunny's leg trying to get his attention. "My sister always feared becoming like our Father… angry, drunk, full of hate for everything in his life. I think she saw herself as him."

"She set herself up to die?" Bunny asked.

"I heard what my sister said to you Jack," she continued ignoring Bunny as she couldn't hear him. "What she hated the most? She hated herself the most in the end, and she couldn't live like that. Guilt has always been my older sister's weakness. She always had a passion for making things better in other lives, but she always blamed herself when things went wrong." The younger sister stepped forward and hugged Jack. "Thank you."

"For what?" he cried. "I might have just killed your sister."

"My sister died thirty years ago," Melanie corrected. "I'm just happy she isn't suffering anymore. She deserves to be _happy_ and at peace." She bent over and picked up her daughter. "Don't blame yourself. My sister wanted an out, and she found one. Can you please take me home?" She watched Jack nod as he wrapped his hand around hers; it was lukewarm unlike Ember's who's touch was always blistering. He felt guilty for what happened to her, but he understood. She didn't know what else to do, so she gave up. He didn't agree with it; he figured she should have fought harder, but he hadn't lived her life… he couldn't judge as much as he wanted to.

Jack dropped Melanie at her back door; he had already agreed to head back with the Guardians to start reconstruction at every base. They were starting with the Palace as Tooth had a job every night then North and then Bunny.

As he set Melanie down, she had a few last words for the spirit before he disappeared as a distant memory of childhood. "My sister was hateful, but I want you to know she was a good person. She was my hero. I believed in her, always will." She smiled sadly at the spirit, a few tears dropping. "She's always had been the one to take the beatings for me. She was good at punishing herself too, so don't take what happened to be your fault…"

"I won't," Jack said thinking hard over her words.

"Good bye Jack Frost," she said giving him a quick peck on the cheek before heading inside with the extremely happy girl Amber.

…

The winter spirit knew he should have gone straight to the Palace, but something was bugging him. He hadn't known Ember for long, but he knew her well enough that her final actions didn't sit right. She wasn't selfish, she was selfless- her actions to save her sister proved that on numerous actions. Suicide was just not in her persona. He had flown to Jamie to ask where he had been during his stay with the fire spirit, and once he had hugged the teen happy for his safety, he started to fly.

If Jack didn't know better, he would have thought Ember would have just isolated herself again for everything she had done. That was what she had done when she thought her sister dead; she wouldn't kill herself over being manipulated. It just didn't fit. What did fit though was her dying to give her sister peace of mind. Jack had seen the frightened look on Melanie's and the little Amber's face when Ember had gotten angry. They looked terrified of their own relative; Ember wouldn't have let that pass. Her sister was right that the fire spirit wouldn't want to live like her Father, but he also thought that she wouldn't let her sister continue to live with the knowledge her older sister was now the monster. Plus, no one saw her fall in; the heat wave made everyone look away from the intensity, and he didn't feel her go in with him. It was possible, she used the distraction to slip out at the last second and disappear.

Which is what brought him to Hawaii, a horribly hot place. Jack landed in the sand, letting it get between his toes. The water lapped at his legs and froze on contact. He smiled at that and briefly wondered if Hawaii got snow days often. Then, he refocused heading for the house on the beach. He was betting Ember was alive, that she faked her death to give her sister peace of mind, to let her sister have that knowledge that she, Ember, wasn't suffering for her actions while alive.

He saw the house and stepped inside, but there wasn't anyone home. He glanced through every room. Perhaps he was wrong… He stepped back outside forming a snowball in his hand, frowning slightly. He was so sure that she would be here. He just wanted to talk to her; she obviously needed someone, and Jack understood quite well what it was like being alone and angry with the world.

Standing on the beach was a girl in jeans and a red top. He couldn't see her face as she was staring into the ocean, arms wrapped around herself. She didn't look like she was having much fun just standing there, and seeing no reason to waste the snowball, he pelted the girl from behind. He laughed to himself, and as she turned around, he smiled.

**The End**

**OOC: ** So call it what you will. Is it open ended? Perhaps, but I thought it summed up everything nicely. Plus, I liked Ember- I wanted her to go out with a blaze of glory… in some sense of the words.

You have choices here:

You can say Ember is:

dead and deserved it

dead- she's at peace

alive and a rival to Jack

alive and still an enemy

or heck go ahead and ship them. I never did in my head, but I'm sure some of you thought about it.

Big question: is there a sequel? Answer- I have an idea for a sequel/stand alone. I will probably take a week long break before I draft it. If you guys really like this, I'll continue with a sequel (which will have a new OC for an enemy as Pitch won't be back in the picture anytime soon obviously). Will said sequel have Ember if she's still 'alive'? I don't know currently; the idea can easily go with or without her hence me waiting to see the feedback.  
A shout out to all you amazing reviewers! Thanks for tagging along. I hope you enjoyed it! –wave-


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